1 / 10

Investigating and Preventing Public Sector Fraud

Explore case studies and practical steps to investigate and prevent fraud in the public sector. Learn about close relationships with vendors, secondary employment risks, résumé fraud, and the effects of implementing fraud mitigation strategies.

jewel
Download Presentation

Investigating and Preventing Public Sector Fraud

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Investigating and Preventing Public Sector Fraud4 April 2012 Lewis Rangott

  2. Case study: Close relationships with vendors • Senior manager with a significant budget and complex projects requiring the appointment of multiple vendors • The senior manager had significant technical expertise and a private sector background • Email / CCR analysis showed extensive receipt of gifts, hospitality and friendships with vendors • Exposed agency to watchdog scrutiny and jeopardised project delivery • Lessons: • “Key person risk” is rarely managed properly • Arm’s length procurement staff or probity advisors should be used on complex tenders

  3. Case study: Secondary employment risk • Mid-ranking officer in a government department • Had an outside business that overlapped with his public duties • Poor departmental controls around valuable equipment and resources • Lead to misappropriation of tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment • Lessons: • Approximately 620,000 Australians are multiple job holders (source: ABS Cat. 6105) • Secondary employment risks trigger all points of the Fraud Triangle • Control of equipment and resources is often poor in the public sector

  4. The Fraud Triangle Opportunity Pressure Rationalisation

  5. Case study: Résumé fraud • Contract manager with procurement duties • History of detectable fraudulent behaviour • Changed his name and falsified his résumé • Detected by chance • Lessons: • 20%-30% of résumés contain serious falsehoods (source: ICAC, ‘Operation Avoca’ report, August 2010) • Agencies with poor employment screening are targeted • Similarly, inadequate vendor screening is a risk

  6. Effects of implementing fraud mitigation strategies • This is a comparison of the median losses at organisations that had implemented each specified fraud control with the median losses for those organisations that did not have that control. Source: Association of Certified Fraud Examiners – 2010 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud & Abuse – p.43

  7. Proactive Reactive Setting the Proper Tone Anti Fraud Program Policies Communications andTraining FraudRisk Assessment Fraud Controls Monitoring Fraud Response Plan Code of Ethics Ernst & Young’s Anti-Fraud Framework Practical steps that can enhance an organisation’s ability to mitigate fraud risk and strengthen its corporate governance framework Exampleactions • Tone communication program • Code compliance confirmations • Whistleblower channels • Fraud awareness training • Induction and training processes • ASX 7 sign off • Escalation and investigation protocols • Discipline and compliance enforcement • Control remediation for known issues • Financial recovery • Fraud Policy and Procedures • Disciplinary code • Delegation of authority • Ethical guidance • Fraud risk policy • Insurance programs • Employment contracts • Annual Business Ethics surveys • Fraud vulnerability assessments and scenario analysis • Deep dive reviews by internal audit • Incident reporting • Annual and half yearly self assessment • Process Data Analytics

  8. Brenton Steenkamp, Partner, Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services, Ernst & Young Email: brenton.steenkamp@au.ey.com Lewis Rangott, Manager, Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services, Ernst & Young Email: lewis.rangott@au.ey.com Contact details 9

More Related