Former Auditor-General Daniel Yao Domelevo has made a stunning admission: the estimated $21 billion expected to be recovered under the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative included raw, unverified data, which he characterized as “garbage.”

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, Mr. Domelevo confirmed the figure was an unverified summation of complaints submitted by the public and warned that the final recoverable amount could shrink significantly after judicial scrutiny.

ORAL Figures Were Unfiltered Complaints

Mr. Domelevo responded to the Deputy Attorney General’s suggestion that the $21 billion figure was exaggerated by agreeing completely. He clarified that the ORAL team’s mandate was strictly limited to compiling public complaints and documentation, not conducting investigations to verify the claims.

“I completely agree… those figures are just summation of the complaints which came. And I even said that after an audit or investigation, those figures may balloon further or may shrink. It is possible.”

He stressed that the initial $21 billion figure represented raw, unfiltered data that was never subjected to scrutiny. When asked to clarify his controversial use of the word “garbage,” the former Auditor-General explained that the team accepted every submission, including those with no substantiation or supporting evidence, even those that came through emails.

“A preliminary investigation even may show that some of the complaints were just noise. There’s nothing in it. But we collected the data as it did so, including the garbage,” he noted.

Winning in Court is Not the End of the Game

The former Auditor-General, drawing from his extensive auditing experience, cautioned the public against relying on the initial high figure. He noted that the true test of the alleged financial losses would be the court process, where the recoverable amounts are likely to be drastically reduced.

More critically, Mr. Domelevo highlighted the extreme difficulty in actually recovering stolen funds, even after a successful court ruling.

“There are two lawyers that will tell you that even the fact that you have won the case in court does not necessarily mean you will collect the money. I remember citing the Woyome case. The Supreme Court said pay. But it took some time. I don’t know up to now whether it has fully been paid. So winning the case is one thing, but recovering it is a different ball game.”

He praised the Attorney General for taking the time to address public misconceptions, particularly regarding attempts to bribe or influence ORAL’s legal team.