Steven van Beverhoudt, inspector general of the USVI for over 30 years, retires today.
Tuesday marks the last day that Steven van Beverhoudt, the V.I. Inspector General for over 30 years will spend at the office as the lauded I.G. exits the stage and move into retirement.
Mr. Beverhoudt's long tenure has been marked by excellence with a team that has worked alongside each other in anomalous loyalty that has prevented major audits from leaking before they are completed.
From G.E.R.S. to the executive branch of government, and now WAPA among a long list of probes, Mr. Beverhoudt's work has sometimes shaken the territory. Among the most prominent was the audit of the V.I. Casino Control Commission which led to federal indictments and the conviction of Anne Golden.
At his last reappointment hearing in 2016 during the Mapp administration, Mr. Beverhoudt was unanimously approved by lawmakers for a fifth, 7-year term. During testimony, the I.G. recognized his team's work with humility.
He said, "Over the past 27 years and five administrations, I have seen the VI Bureau of Audit and Control blossom. From a small, less than 10-person agency, answerable to the commissioner of the Department of Finance, where reports were always kept confidential and not subject to the public’s view; to become the Office of the Virgin Islands Inspector General, a watchdog for the people of the Virgin Islands, where fraud, waste and abuse is brought to the people’s attention, and where wrongdoers are held accountable. Is there room for improvements? Of course there is. We should never be satisfied with what we have. I hope that this body will give me the opportunity to continue this journey as I strive with the help and support of the staff to make the Office of the Virgin Islands Inspector General the best that it can be."
A replacement has not been named.
