Dutch Quarter:--- The I CAN Foundation and its orphans may have to wait for another lengthy period of time before the beautifully coloured home can be furnished even though the Dutch Government through USONA have paid out Naf 400,000.00 for the furnishing of the home.President of the I CAN Foundation Cassandra "Debby" Gibbs filed an official report with the detectives department on Friday requesting that an investigation be conducted on how USONA and the BAK paid out the monies to the company that was awarded the bid to furnish the home.
According to documents provided to SMN News by Gibbs, her office manager a former felon and owner of Personalize Creation submitted a bid unknowingly to the President and founder of the I CAN Foundation for the furnishing of the home. Joanne Forde had all the necessary information on the amount of monies USONA and government had awarded the I CAN Foundation for the furnishing which she used to her advantage.
Gibbs said her former office manager Joanne Forde used the stamps from I CAN Foundation and submitted a list and other documents on behalf of the foundation when she added her company on the list as a bidder for the furnishings. Gibbs said when Mrs. Forde added her company Personalise Creation to the list and submitted it to government she did not even send in a quotation but government she said granted the company the bid. "It appears that someone from the inside along with Personalise Creation is involved in the fraud and forgery and the police would have to determine this through their investigation." Furthermore, while Gibbs filed an official complaint with the detectives about the forged documents which was sent by Forde to government, it is not clear if USONA filed a complaint for the fraud committed by Personalize Creation owned and operated by Neville and Joanne Forde.
Gibbs said while all of this was done and the monies were paid to Personalize Creation the Project Manager of BAK drs. Andrea Ortega–Oudhoff never visited the children's home to see if the monies were used to furnish the home. "One would think that government would have followed proper procedures when they are offering bids and companies would have to provide all the relevant documents before the bidder is even considered. I also believe that the project manager should have visited the I CAN Home to see and take pictures of the furniture for their own filing." Gibbs said she is in the habit of seeing USONA signing off on agreements when they pay out monies on behalf of the harbour buy back funds but this particular project was kept in the closet. Gibbs said at no time USONA or BAK made personal contact with her about the payout. She said while she knew the money was there and that government had sent out a bid she did not know who got the bid and when the monies were paid out.
Gibbs said it was sometime in November last year she was at a Supermarket when she met Oudhoff who asked her if she was happy now that the home was furnished. The surrogate mother said when the question was posed to her she responded negatively and it was then she was told that Personalise Creations was awarded the bid and that documents from I CAN Foundation were sent to BAK and USONA with I CAN Foundation stamps. The project manager even went as far as telling her in front of the supermarket that they also received the list with I CAN Foundation stamp confirming receipt of the items.
Gibbs said when she heard this she invited the project manager to I CAN Home where they held discussions on the bid and how it was conducted. She said it was during those meetings she was told that Joanne Forde signed off the documents on behalf of I CAN Foundation and she informed the project manager that Forde is also the owner of Personalize Creations.
Gibbs said during these discussions she was given the documents that Forde submitted including the list of items and the prices for the items.
"When I was going through the list I saw some prices that made me wonder if the project manager did not see that Joanne Forde charged Naf.810 for 300 hundred wooden clothes pins. She said while all prices on the list of items skyrocketed the price for the clothespins were the most outrageous. So far, I CAN has received 65 items out of the 266 items it ought to receive. The I CAN Foundation also instructed the project manager to stop Personalize Creations from shopping because so far the 65 items they delivered are items they bought at the Dollar Store on St. Maarten and the items are all of inferior quality.
Below are some of the documents Gibbs provided to SMN News to show the discrepancies on this particular transaction.
The letter from the BAK to the I CAN Foundation.
The price list that was submitted by Joanne Forde on behalf of Personalize Creations to BAK and USONA.
