Mira Millions: Defence Minister Florencio Marin Deflects Questions

Minister of National Defence and Border Security, Florencio Marin Jr, declined to confirm whether taxpayers received the goods and services paid for under contracts now at the centre of the Mira Millions investigation. When News 5 pressured for comment, Marin insisted that the Auditor General must be allowed to complete her work first, which is expected to take 90 days.

When asked whether he could guarantee that products were delivered and construction works completed under former Minister of State Oscar Mira’s watch, Marin repeatedly refused to answer.

“I am prepared to speak, but please, let’s have the audit finished first,” Marin said. “Right now it is ongoing, and I believe it’s prudent that we reserve our comments to when that comes up.”

Every question that followed was met with the same response. Whether he or Mira were ever informed of the high volume of payments to the same vendors, or whether the audit findings should be released publicly, Marin deferred each one to the Auditor General.

He also declined to comment on whether the $10,000 threshold should be raised, a position that contrasts with Minister Andre Perez, who believes that “from a business standpoint”, the threshold should be raised.

Over the past few weeks, News 5 has been reporting on the leaked Smart Stream records that place more than $9.4 million in government payments under scrutiny, with several contracts linked to members of Mira’s family.

Meanwhile, Mira has denied influencing procurement decisions, insisting tenders were handled independently and that he “had no say.”