Presented by

Siobhan C. Fitzgerald, CFEand

Mohammed J. Masoud CPA, CFE, CICA, MBA

Prepared and Reviewed by

Birzeit Consulting ME & The European Middle East Advisory Center (EMAC)

www.bzconsult.com

Anti Fraud in

Government and Public Sector

Introduction

• State workers have a responsibility to the country’s government and its citizens to place loyalty to the Constitution, laws and ethical principles above private gain.

• Among other things, employees are prohibited from holding financial interests that conflict with their job duties, engaging in financial transactions using nonpublic Government information, or accepting gifts from those regulated by their ministry or agency.

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Introduction-Cont.

• Further, State employees must act impartially, protect and conserve State’s property, refrain from engaging in outside activities, including seeking employment, that conflict with official Government duties, and disclose fraud, waste and abuse to appropriate authorities.

• While State employees are recognized for their dedication, honesty, and hard-work, like any large organization there will always be a few who try to personally benefit from their official position.

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Who Should Prevent, Detect and Deter Fraud?

• Preventing and detecting such fraud and abuse should always be a top priority of the State’s anti corruption commission.

• State Audit Administrative and Control Bureau.

• Internal auditors.

• Employees awareness and reporting

• Others including anti fraud consultants.

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Types of Fraud in Government

• Employment Integrity– Misappropriation of assets

• Theft (embezzlement) of cash

• Misuse and stealing checks

• Stealing inventory

• Stealing property i.e. laptop computer

– Travel vouchers

– Personal expenses being reimbursed

– Conflicts of interest

– Ethics violations

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Types of Fraud in Government

• Procurement Fraud

• Bribery

• Kickbacks

• Others

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Common Fraud Schemes

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Fraud Scheme Description

Bribery A contractor compensates a government official in exchange for obtaining contracts or permitting overcharges

Kickbacks A contractor misrepresents the cost of performing work by secretly paying a fee for being awarded the contract and, therefore, inflating the cost to the government.

Conflicts of Interest A government contracting or oversight official has an undisclosed financial interest in a contractor or consultant, resulting in an improper contract award or inflated costs.

Where We Can Help

• Fraud Prevention

– Fraud risk assessment

– Establishment of anti fraud policies and procedures

– Unleash the entity’s fraud awareness

– Assessment of the effectiveness of the internal audit function

– Assessment of the internal control structure

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Where We Can Help-Cont.

• Fraud Detection

– Full fledge investigation of a suspected or actual fraud

– Providing expert witness testimony

• Conducting workshops / training programs for the entire spectrum of the anti fraud technical skills. For example:

– Principles of fraud investigation

– Money laundering: prevention and detection

– Employee training to recognize fraud

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We are Different

• Our anti fraud team, led by Ms. Siobhan Fitzgerald, a CFE and Harvard graduate, academic and professional qualifications as well as our collective multinational experience are unparalleled in the market.

• We understand the local Middle East culture• We successfully investigated a wide range of

fraud cases ranged from millions to billions of US Dollars.

• Our collective experience exceeds 70 years world wide.

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Short List of Clients

• The following is a short list of firms some of our team members provided anti fraud services for:

– Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) expert witness and discovery of money laundering investigation in Russia.

– Primary witness for State of NH regulatory action against Ameriprise Financial, a 3.61 billion dollar US company that was subsequently fines 7.5 Million dollars for forgery and fraudulent transaction.

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Siobhan C. Fitzgerald

• Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

• Certified Fraud Examiner, CFE (USA)• LICENSES (USA): Series 6, 7, 24, 26, and 63 • EXPERT WITNESS: Provided deposition and

testimony to company policy and procedures for financial irregularities to the State of NH for regulatory action 2005. Provided expert witness testimony to FINRA concerning process and procedures for an investigation involving money laundering fraud and misappropriation of client funds 2006.

• Often mentioned in the Wall Street Journal and interviewed on several TV stations

• Managing Director, USA

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Mohammed J. Masoud

• Master in Business Administration majoring in accounting, Pittsburg State University, KS, USA

• Certified Public Accountant, CPA (USA)

• Certified Fraud Examiner, CFE (USA)

• Certified Internal Control Auditor, CICA (USA)

• Led several public and private sector fraud investigations in the Middle East. He is an international expert in internal control and anti fraud.

• Managing Director, Middle East

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Thank You

• We thank you for your time and we will be glad to answer your questions.

• You may contact me via e-mail: mmasoudcpa@bzconsult.com

• Please visit our Website at www.bzconsult.com

where you will find other relevant information

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