Diligent officers who raised concerns over the activities of three individual fraudsters have helped recover around £15,000 in stolen cash, while their key interventions have helped identify and implement additional ways services can prevent further frauds being carried out in the future.
The services targeted in the separate crimes were the Council’s Demand Responsive Transport service, its administration of the Scottish Welfare Fund, and the Street Lighting service.
The first of those was carried out by an operator engaged by the Council under contract, and the others by former members of staff who are now no longer employed by the Council.
The frauds were initially investigated by Internal Audit or the relevant Council Service and, in each case, was reported to Police Scotland for further investigation. Each resulted in a successful prosecution at Stirling Sheriff Court in October and November 2018.
Council Leader, Councillor Scott Farmer said: “As the local authority it’s vital that the public services we provide are protected from criminal behaviours such as this.
“We have an honest and hard-working workforce and I am proud of the staff members who used their expertise to identify these people who defrauded and exploited the Council out of thousands of pounds and helped bring them to justice.
“We have an open and transparent working environment that makes it extremely difficult for those who wish to commit fraud against the Council and the lessons learned from these incidents will ensure that continues to be the case.”
Convenor of the Audit Committee, Councillor Neil Benny, said: “The first step in dealing with fraud can often be having a vigilant and aware workforce.
“As soon as the Council staff became aware of these issues they immediately reported the matter, uncovering information that assisted the police in their investigations and setting in motion a chain of events that brought these fraudsters to justice.”