Time to take action on procurement fraud

As the current economic woes intensifiy the need to prevent money going into undeserving hands, there has never been a better time to take action against fraud.

This is supported by recent figures which single out procurement in the UK as the chief offender in cases of fraud.

A recent Supply Management poll from the UK reveals that the majority of buyers (85 per cent) believe the procurement profession could do more to beat procurement fraud.

Brian Grew, vice-president of commercial, marketing partnerships at Live Nation in the UK, believes buyers can play a pivotal role in identifying and stopping fraud throughout businesses.

“Procurement and supply chain professionals are essential in the fight against fraud by defining and implementing robust processes along with internal departments. This should be an invitation for procurement to engage even with the sales arm of their business to help guide and advise on professional conduct and engagement,” he said.

Simon Bevan, head of fraud at BDO, said despite working on more than 200 procurement fraud investigations, no buyer has ever blown the whistle. He believes “the whole industry turns a blind eye to procurement fraud”.

However, buyers do not agree. Bill Fyfe, head of procurement at the National Trust for Scotland has said: “I would doubt very much if any professional procurement person would turn a blind eye to fraud. There may be times when they don’t know who to go to or what to do about it but the new Bribery Act will facilitate a way of reporting it.”

With a crack team of anti-fraud champions scurrying around Whitehall in the UK and a major piece of legislation coming through, this might just be the year procurement does get tough on fraud throughout Britain.

Read more here.