The Auditor General has defended himself against insinuations of political influence by the Department of Tourism's advertising agency.

Larry Dennis questioned comments by GlobalHue yesterday that allegations the agency had overbilled Tourism were said by the Department to be "strictly motivated by a party trying to discredit the existing Bermuda ruling party".

And he asked whether the US agency was not motivated by political influence itself.

A report by Mr. Dennis recently said the agency may have overbilled Tourism by $1.8 million. And last night he asked what action Government was taking to recoup the money.

"What action has been taken to determine whether the $1.8 million excess payments were the result of criminal actions in the Civil Service, or merely incompetence?" questioned Mr. Dennis.

Government's $28 million two-year contract with GlobalHue was recently renewed without it being put out to tender. The US agency was also kept on despite Mr. Dennis' findings.

GlobalHue is paid to place television and radio advertisements in the US through media-buying agencies, one of which is Cornerstone Media.

Mr. Dennis however, said GlobalHue and Cornerstone Media had both failed to provide some invoices for services.

Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown said an internal review has been carried out and that "adjustments were made".

But Shadow Tourism Minister Michael Dunkley responded last month: "In the absence of openness, suspicions grow about what is going on, particularly given reports of the Premier's friendship with the owner of GlobalHue (Don Coleman)."

Yesterday, Angela Spencer Ford, vice president of PR for GlobalHue, told the website HispanicAd.com: "The Bermuda Department of Tourism is confident in our abilities and has determined that GlobalHue didn't do anything inappropriate, the allegations were strictly motivated by a party trying to discredit the existing Bermuda ruling party."

Ms Ford added: "With the Bermuda Department of Tourism, the political climate is pivotal to understanding the fabric of Bermuda and the Bermuda Department of Tourism. The political party not in power always tries to discredit the ruling party, who selected us, which again was the origin of the allegations against GlobalHue."

But Mr. Dennis told The Royal Gazette: "Only the Department of Tourism can say on what basis it is confident of GlobalHue's abilities, but I have not seen any report from the Department where it says it has determined that GlobalHue didn't do anything inappropriate.

"In fact the Department itself used SQAD, an industry analysis tool, to produce a report that supported the Auditor General's allegations that the system for billing the Bermuda Government needed to be reviewed and the $1.8 million overbilled figure was not disputed.

"As far as the allegations being strictly motivated by a party I assume she means the Auditor General how in the world could Ms Ford say this unless she and GlobalHue were politically connected? Where would she get this stuff?

"The overbilling of media-buy costs is not a mere allegation it's a fact. We have proved this numerically by analysing media vendor, buyer and agency invoices.

"The invoices show that the Bermuda Department of Tourism overpaid for its broadcast media-buys by approximately $1.8 million in fiscal 2007-08."

Mr. Dennis said: "The questions now become: What action has been taken to get these funds back?

"What action has been taken to determine whether the $1.8 million excess payments were the result of criminal actions in the Civil Service, or merely incompetence?

"In a Special Report, the Auditor General, in so many words, described possible criminal activity taking place. Is that all that happens? Who is responsible to initiate an investigation and court action, if appropriate?"

Commenting on Ms Ford's statement "the political party not in power always tries to discredit the ruling party", Mr. Dennis said: "I recall a former Premier saying he thought the Auditor General was an accountant; he didn't know the Auditor General was an architect too. Touché.

"But in the same vein, I thought Ms Ford and GlobalHue were experts in tourism. I didn't know they were political scientists too. Where did this come from?

"Aside from the gratuitous mentioning of the political climate and understanding of the fabric of Bermuda, the statement about trying to discredit the ruling party is totally false.

"Not that the truth means anything to those hellbent on defending the undefendable, but the Office of the Auditor General undertook its investigation of GlobalHue's billing practices only after the Government's own Internal Audit Office finished an investigation of this area.

"Based on its preliminary findings, Internal Audit was seriously concerned with the possible breakdown in internal controls but deemed the job too large for its resources.

"I was asked to review its work to see whether a full fledged audit was appropriate. I did. It was. And the result turned out to be a qualified Auditor's Report on the Government's 2008 financial statements."