:00:06. > :00:08.Feel like investing in a derelict hotel?
:00:08. > :00:18.The Welsh Government's got one going cheap.
:00:18. > :00:22.
:00:22. > :00:25.This is Dragon's Eye. Good Evening.
:00:25. > :00:29.�1.6 million of public money was wasted by the Welsh Government when
:00:29. > :00:32.it bought a hotel in Llangollen for a charity to turn into a martial
:00:32. > :00:34.arts centre. That's according to a report from
:00:34. > :00:37.the Wales Audit Office which says persistent bad practice and poor
:00:37. > :00:44.judgement by officials meant that the taxpayer did not get value for
:00:44. > :00:46.money on the deal. The report highlights a conflict of
:00:46. > :00:50.interest relating to one official which was not properly managed and
:00:50. > :01:00.a failure to accept legal advice in relation to the deal struck with
:01:00. > :01:02.
:01:02. > :01:08.the organisation behind the project. Here's Brian Meechan.
:01:08. > :01:14.This is Paul Won, a monk, traig people in 2006 during the time when
:01:14. > :01:20.he was teaching at the former River Lodge hotel in Llangollen. This is
:01:20. > :01:23.the building now, derelict and vandalised in the years after being
:01:23. > :01:29.abandoned. The financial watchdog criticises the purchase of River
:01:30. > :01:34.Lodge in 2007 as, "Flawed" it says the price tag represented poor
:01:34. > :01:40.value-for-money and it suggested that was more than the property was
:01:40. > :01:46.worth. The wging with went ahead with the project that the Welsh
:01:46. > :01:52.Doflt development Agency had done the work on. I was running
:01:52. > :01:57.international courses in marshal arts -- martial arts. I have a
:01:57. > :02:07.sanction to teach kung fu, which was given to me as a cultural gift
:02:07. > :02:07.
:02:07. > :02:11.from one of the masters. Given to the people of North Wales as a
:02:11. > :02:16.cultural gift. The Audit Office criticises the lease agreement as,
:02:16. > :02:22."Unwise" it says the control and governance of the purchase of River
:02:22. > :02:27.Lodge was, "Weak". The Welsh Government bought the property for
:02:28. > :02:31.�1 .6 million it was not supported by a prior or independent Valation.
:02:31. > :02:36.We assessed that they paid top market price for the property and
:02:36. > :02:41.more than it was worth for its intended use. At the time it bought
:02:41. > :02:45.the property, even those it's purchase was to sub-let it, it did
:02:45. > :02:50.not have any agreement in place at that time. Concerns were raised
:02:50. > :02:54.about the role auto civil servant played in this project. She was
:02:54. > :02:58.responsible for looking after its development on behalf of the Welsh
:02:58. > :03:03.Government. She sat on the Board. She has been sacked. We have been
:03:03. > :03:07.told is now taking her case against her former employers to an
:03:07. > :03:11.employment tribunal. I thought it was not just reasonable, I thought
:03:11. > :03:17.it was a responsible thing to do to ask this person to join the Board
:03:17. > :03:22.and keep an eye on us and make sure it was complyant and so on. It's
:03:22. > :03:26.already been established that this so-called conflict of interest, I