30. I am confident that incidents of fraud and corruption that occur at my organisation will be reported to the Police.

Public Sector Fraud Awareness Survey - Findings: Fraud response.

Observation:

Pie chart of Question 30: I am confident that incidents of fraud and corruption that occur at my organisation will be reported to the Police.

78% said that fraud in their organisation would be reported to the Police.

This view was shared by senior managers and staff alike and across all sectors.

Organisations that report matters to the Police had fewer reported incidences of fraud. Of those that answered “Yes” to the question, 21% reported incidences of fraud over the past two years. Of those that answered “No,” 49% reported incidences of fraud.

What some respondents have said:

“We would only report a case of fraud or corruption to the Police if it involved theft or some other criminal activity. For example, misuse of a credit card or an irregularity with an expense claim for a minor amount, would not automatically be referred to the police.”

“Our organisation takes fraud seriously and in situations where we have reasonable grounds to believe that fraud has occurred is obliged to report to the appropriate authority. This includes incidents of fraud that occurs with organisations that we fund.”

PwC comment:
We would advise organisations to have access to suitably skilled people with a working knowledge of investigation (and interviewing techniques) and the relevant legislation investigate matters of fraud or corruption. This will help ensure that the Police receive information that has been correctly gathered to the required evidential standards.

“Reporting to police is considered on the basis of the nature and severity of the incident, not as a matter of course.”

“We have taken on-board the Auditor General guidelines to report all instances of fraud to the police.”

“My experience is that Police accord no priority to such reported cases.”

“Incidents of fraud or corruption are reported to police if it is considered that reasonable defendable evidence is available for prosecution and that the police are likely to act on the evidence.”

  Yes No Don’t know Total Count
Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director/Principal 328 86% 20 5% 32 8% 380
Member of the senior executive/leadership team or equivalent 387 79% 30 6% 72 15% 489
Line manager (if not one of the above) 157 72% 10 5% 52 24% 219
Administration/Support Services 150 75% 9 5% 41 21% 200
Operational staff (e.g. Teacher, Analyst, Advisor, Technician, Officer, Engineer, Accountant) 93 68% 6 4% 37 27% 136
Total 1,115 78% 75 5% 234 16% 1,424
  Yes No Don’t know Total Count
Central Government              
Autonomous Crown Entities 49 91% 1 2% 4 7% 54
Central Government - Other 32 71% 0 0% 13 29% 45
Crown Agents or Companies 66 76% 5 6% 16 18% 87
Crown Research Institutes 30 81% 0 0% 7 19% 37
District Health Boards 58 83% 3 4% 9 13% 70
Government Departments 101 70% 8 6% 36 25% 145
Independent Crown Entities 29 78% 0 0% 8 22% 37
Māori Trust Boards 10 91% 0 0% 1 9% 11
Rural Education Activities Programmes 9 82% 0 0% 2 18% 11
State-Owned Enterprises 34 72% 8 17% 5 11% 47
Tertiary Education Institutions 67 74% 7 8% 17 19% 91
Sub-Total 485 76% 32 5% 118 19% 635
  Yes No Don’t know Total Count
Local Government              
Airports 12 63% 2 11% 5 26% 19
Council Controlled Organisations or Council Controlled Trading Organisations 59 79% 2 3% 14 19% 75
Energy Companies 21 75% 3 11% 4 14% 28
Fish and Game Councils 6 75% 1 13% 1 13% 8
Licensing and Community Trusts 7 78% 2 22% 0 0% 9
Local Authorities 137 81% 11 7% 21 12% 169
Local Government - Other 7 64% 1 9% 3 27% 11
Port Companies 1 50% 0 0% 1 50% 2
Sub-Total 250 78% 22 7% 49 15% 321
               
Schools 380 81% 21 4% 67 14% 468
Total 1,115 78% 75 5% 234 16% 1,424
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