Inspector general: Fiscal board has last word on Xuvo contract

Puerto Rico Inspector General Ivelisse Torres Rivera (colegiocpa.com)

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico Inspector General Ivelisse Torres Rivera revealed Wednesday that, despite the findings of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the Financial Oversight and Management Board has the last word on the fate of a contract awarded to XUVO Technologies.

She made her remarks in response to irregularities in the contracts offered by the Puerto Rico Department of State and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) to XUVO Technologies, which is now tasked by the Department of Health with managing its digital platform.

Torres said the OIG has identified and documented the interventions made regarding the technology company.

Some of the irregularities reported included the absence of mandatory clauses. For instance, there was a system for which an excessive fee seemed to be charged, as it had already been developed for another government entity and was essentially being billed as a new platform. Additionally, there were legal concerns about the fact that the contract had been signed on Dec. 31 at the end of a governor’s term in 2020.

Torres stated that if the oversight board determines something contrary to the OIG’s findings, the board’s decision will prevail.

“In this context, since the board is already making a judgment about the contract’s legality and whether it complies with the provisions required by the government, it is prudent to wait for the board’s determination,” she said. “Considering they only requested this contract in August, once the inspector general’s review is complete, we will await the [...] oversight board’s conclusion. After that, if necessary, we will continue the evaluation process from our office.”

After the contract between XUVO and the Health Department was publicly questioned -- for, among other reasons, being awarded without a competitive process and after another company had been selected -- the board requested information from the government and emphasized that it was not submitted for review. The agreement is worth $5 million, but the board stated, in a recent communication, that its added value is “considerably higher” due to the processing fees the company is authorized to charge for each online transaction.

The government is required to submit to the oversight board any contract valued at $10 million or more.