Fraud Prevention Information

From:      Mary Barnett <mbarnett@richmond.edu>
Subject:   Fraud Prevention Tips
Audience: Faculty and Staff

Everyone at the University of Richmond has a stake in preventing fraud. Money spent fraudulently is money that could otherwise have supported student services, academic programs or even (particularly!) salary increases. Everyone -- not just management, and not just individuals in the Business Office -- has a role to play in preventing fraud. Not all frauds are financial, even though most high-profile ones in profit-making industries have been. The nature of the higher education environment means that other frauds -- from grade changes to research -- can also make the news, to devastating effect.  

The University of Richmond has a strong system of processes in place to prevent frauds, thefts and mistakes. Just as you lock the doors of your house and keep your family checkbook in a safe place, the University has "control processes" in place to protect valuable assets.  

The control processes in place are varied and include management sign-off on invoices; employee and manager signatures on time cards; written faculty approval of late grade changes; competitive bidding on large purchases; periodic fire extinguisher testing; virus upgrades on the Network; and checking a University ID before resetting a network password. Everyone at the University has a role to play in this system.  

Some examples of how each of us prevents fraud:

(1) Senior management respects the processes in place and does not pressure employees to bend the rules, even if they promise "I'll take responsibility." Senior management creates the "Tone at the Top," and they want to set a tone of ethical behavior for the rest of us to follow.

(2) Employees know the rules and follow the rules. Employees question when someone wants to circumvent the rules and, if necessary, can report concerns to their manager, to the Internal Auditor or Police.

(3) Individuals responsible for approving invoices, expense reports, grade changes, leave/vacation records, timecards and other documents take the time to read and understand what they are approving. Making the assumption that "my staff wouldn't have put this in here for my approval unless they were sure it was ok" not only circumvents the entire process but actually leaves your valued staff members vulnerable to questions about their involvement if something inappropriate occurs. The recent "Paygo Funds" scandal in Richmond City government boiled down to one person who was approving invoices without confirming that any work had actually been done; the scandal could have been prevented if that one employee had taken that responsibility seriously. Don't approve something without sufficient proof that it is correct.  

If you would like to discuss anything in this SpiderByte, please call Mary M. Barnett, internal auditor, at ext. 8855.