Manager of the Grenada Co-operative Nutmeg Association (GCNA), Terrrence Moore has confirmed reports that an employee at an out-station has been suspended in the wake of investigations into missing funds.

Moore told GRENADA TODAY an audit team from the association's main office is currently conducting an investigation and to date has discovered around $3000.00 to be missing. Earlier reports had put the sum at approximately $19, 000.00.

Moore said that the management has decided to send a letter of dismissal to the suspect and to hand over the matter to the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) for further action.

The GCNA boss rejected suggestions as coming from some members of GCNA that the Board of Directors was moving too close in taking action against the suspect. A nutmeg farmer in St. Andrew's told this newspaper that he was angry with reports that the GCNA Management had taken a decision to quietly dismiss the worker who allegedly stole the funds from one of its Receiving Stations.

The employee who was attached to the Grenville Receiving Station was sent home sometime last week. According to the farmer, the activity of the GCNA agent was discovered over a week ago although information was made available to management officials that monies were being embezzled for a long period of time.

The source said the agent used his position to get the main office in St. George's to deliver large sums of cash to the out-station under the pretext that the funds were being paid out to nutmeg farmers.

There are unconfirmed reports that an undisclosed number of hundred dollar bills were removed from the home of the agent and handed over to GCNA officials when they visited his resident recently.

The farmer spoke of being puzzled over the lateness of the association to detect the alleged wrong-doings on the part of the employee. He said that since last year, the GCNA had introduced a new policy whereby farmers selling more than fifty pounds of nutmegs to the different Receiving Stations were paid with cheques.

The GCNA indicated that the new situation was for security reasons since the intention of the association is to avoid keeping large sums of cash at the different Receiving Stations.
The farmer wondered why the "red flag" was not raised by Head Office when the agent requested large sums of money to allegedly pay farmers.