Scenario Details:
You are now going to write an investigation plan for the investigation you need to lead into a suspected fraud in one of your organisation’s areas offices. This has been brought to your attention by a whistleblower.
Background
You are a fraud control officer in the Department of Planning. You were approached by the head of audit with a complaint by a whistleblower that stated:
· A manager of the Dubbo office had not taken leave for some years and was building up excessive flex time as well as time in lieu of overtime.
· The office has high operating costs
· The manager travels a lot for Head Office consultation
· The office is not meeting its key performance indicators
You initiated an investigation into the matter, with two other investigators.
The Facts
Your initial analysis of the evidence provides the following:
· The manager, Mr Brett Jones has been in the Dubbo Office for ten years
· He has flex time built up to a level of 960 hours of flex, or 2 hours every working day for four years. He also has an additional 800 hours of TOIL for
overtime.
· The office has high operating costs, around 20% above other similar offices
· Mr Jones does travel once a week to Canberra and back from Dubbo own means, staying overnight.
· The Dubbo Office is not meeting its key performance indicators. The performance of the office has declined sharply four years ago. However, in 2021 it
picked up significantly and has improved
The potential witnesses are:
Dubbo Office
· Mr Bernard Francis, Team Leader Local Planning
· Ms Debrorah Bertram, Office Administrator
· Mr Vilam Berchnad, Finance Officer
· Mrs Gerry Smith, Planning Officer
· Mr Brett Smith, Planning Officer
· Ms Sharmain Donnegal, Planning Officer
Canberra Head Office
· Mr Brendan Galfilacis, Branch Head.
· Mrs Jenny Wentworth, Executive Assistant to Mr Galfilacis
· Mr Brad Malvern, Director Local Planning and Government, Mr Francis’ direct supervisor
Assignment – Investigation Plan
Based on the above you are to develop a short investigation plan. The questions you need to consider are:
· Where would you find the data to support your investigation?
· When would you commence interviews?
· In what order would you interview staff?
The plan is to be no more than 1,000 words.
Michael Callan
Senior Investigating Officer