Finding procurement fraud red flags

Have you ever been asked to review procurement practices for your organization or as a third party? Procurement is prone to corruption and bribery and can cost large organizations millions of dollars annually. Here I shed light on some of the best tools and techniques fraud examiners can use to combat procurement fraud.

Throughout my 10-year career, I’ve detected and investigated more than 50 cases of fraud and abuse for large private and publicly listed companies. In this column, I cover an example of procurement fraud associated with outsourcing decisions.

Using your CFE knowledge

In one case, a company group’s audit committee and CEO asked me to perform a procurement review for a large factory, which produced oil and gas equipment. I had complete autonomy, which included full freedom and access to information.

Fraud examiners, internal auditors and consultants can often find themselves in such a situation. Your client might give you carte blanche but expects you to achieve solid results. So, it’s important that you utilize the academic knowledge and tools you gained during the process of obtaining your CFE credential and additional continuing education.