FLA Report revealed multiple discrepancies, including intentional data Fabrication and Server Failures and poor management. The findings from the Integrity Commission (IC) investigation into the operations of the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. It came eight weeks after it was submitted and after a court rulling.
The 131-page report uncovered multiple instances of manipulation of official digital records, inventory management failures, and the loss of critical electronic evidence following a server failure.
Basically, the report details how official records were altered inside the FLA’s Licence Management System (LMS). LMS is the core platform the FLA used to track firearm ownership, ammunition purchases and dealer inventory flows.
The FLA report accused former database administrator Shevon Robinson of manually inserting false transactions into a dealer’s system profile without any written request or formal authorization from the dealer.
IC findings indicate that the entries were not clerical errors, but rather a deliberate attempt to create ghost transactions. This was done to make it appear as if legitimate sales and purchases had occurred, and that missing items were “accounted for” in the system.
The investigation discovered that 6,000 rounds of ammunition were recorded as sold to three individuals. However, one person had not purchased ammunition in years, another denied making the purchase, and the third was already deceased at the time the transaction was logged.
There were significant discrepancies in the inventory. Although the investigation did not validate every allegation, it did identify concrete failures.
FLA Report revealed multiple discrepancies, including poor recording
IC audit targeted 714 records from a total inventory of 4,103 revealed that 335 rounds of ammunition were missing. In one instance, a bag that was supposed to contain 519 rounds held only 219, resulting in 191 rounds unaccounted for.
The FLA report identified systemic weaknesses, such as deteriorating storage bags, faded labels, overcrowded vault conditions, and inadequate inventory-tracking practices.
A significant barrier to the investigation was the breakdown of the evidence trail. The IC reported that the FLA’s primary server experienced a “catastrophic failure” in 2019, and there was no backup system available.
As a result, critical logs that could have identified who altered records were lost, limiting the commission’s ability to establish criminal accountability despite evidence that manipulation had occurred.
Kevon Stephenson, the Director of Investigations at the Integrity Commission, stated that the missing data greatly hindered the investigation.
Therefore, she recommends that, due to the critical nature of the FLA’s operations, it is essential to maintain the servers properly and have a backup server in place. This will ensure that, in the event of a failure of the main server, no data will be lost.