The Cumberland Regional Development Authority (CRDA) should be audited, the provincial Ombudsman recommends in a draft report. (Google)

The province's Ombudsman has issued its final report into the financial problems at the Cumberland Regional Development Authority and is calling for a forensic audit into the way CRDA managed and paid for projects from 2007 until 2012.

"CRDA's financial practices revealed in this investigation are not acceptable," said the report.

Ombudsman Dwight Bishop says the audit should be done through the provincial auditor general's office and the results sent to the police.

CRDA is one of 12 non-profit authorities in the province designed to enhance community economic development. It receives about $700,000 in annual core funding from municipal, provincial and federal governments, and it gets funding for specific projects that can vary from thousands to millions of dollars.

It has worked on projects such as the redevelopment of the Thinkers' Lodge National Historic Site in Pugwash, and the UNESCO World Heritage designation for the Joggins Fossil Cliffs.

The Ombudsman's office launched an investigation into CRDA's finances last year, after a complaint by two of the organization's former employees.

The report says CRDA received money from the provincial government to pay for development projects but it's not clear how, or whether, that money was spent.

It calls for more oversight into regional development authorities by the provincial government.

"The effectiveness of the CRDA Board from an oversight perspective needs to be improved," said the report.

In the draft report, the conclusion of which was obtained by the CBC last week, Bishop said that there is evidence CRDA created invoices and obtained money from Nova Scotia Economic and Rural Development and Tourism "without direct expenditures."

Bishop said he hopes to meet with the provincial auditor general at the end of the month.