Council Audit Reveals Internal Fraud

An Internal Council audit has revealed a number of allegations of fraud and theft have been reported during the 2013/14 period.

In a report due to go before the Audit Committee this afternoon, the report shows that since September of this year, three cases of fraud have been reported to the Internal Audit, and are currently ‘In Progress’.

However since April there have been 15 alleged frauds and thefts reported, with five of the reports of frauds being proven. Three of the allegations have been in relation to individuals who are not employed by the Council.

The Internal Audit report states that: “Fraud is defined as any action which is deliberately taken against the Council by staff or external parties in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain or advantage.”

The table below shows that an additional three cases of ‘other frauds against the Council’ have been reported to the Internal Audit since the last review in August.

An Internal Audit report that was released back in September 2013 showed that there were 12 allegations of fraud; with five allegations  based on ‘Benefit Frauds involving the Council’, and seven based on ‘Other Frauds against the Council’. Since the last Audit one of the five ‘In Progress’ allegations has not been proven to be true.

The table from April – August 2013 can be found below:

Alongside allegations of fraud, the report also states that the private use of the internet audit has shown four instances of minor non-compliance with the Acceptable Use Policy. A further instance has also been drawn to the attention of the Internal Audit.

A full copy of the Council Internal Audit can be found here on the Council website.