"The Tea Board's liabilities have been overstated by Rs 109.35 lakhs, understated by Rs 1.25 lakhs, assets are overstated by Rs 10.77 lakhs, receipts are overstated by Rs 1.22 lakhs and understated by Rs 27.13 lakhs and revenue expenditure understated by Rs 10.77 lakhs," CAG said in the course of its annual auditing of the accounts of the Tea Board. It said there were gaps in the balances given in the cash book and what was given in the bank statement. There were certain differences in the accounts of the loan schemes which had remained unsettled for years together.

Tea Board had intimated that "Inspite of our best efforts, the amount of Rs 5.05 lakhs cannot be reconciled."

It said for a number of subsidy schemes, no bank reconciliation statements (BRS) had been prepared, and as a result, the correctness of their balances could not be ascertained.

"The possibility of fraud and misappropriation of any amount in such accounts cannot be ruled out," it added. The audit also found out that certain expenses under the "revenues" head had been included as capital expenditure, resulting in overstatement of assets. The Tea Board had accepted this contention of the audit, it said. There had also been mixing up of plan and non-plan receipts and grants/expenditure without proper approval, it added.