Fraud in schools – It couldn’t happen to me

The KPMG annual survey of fraud, bribery and corruption always makes interesting reading and throws up some interesting facts.

Did you know that in 2012:

• 31% of organisations with 100-300 staff experienced a fraud
• 47% of major frauds occurred due to a deficiency in internal controls
• 75% of major frauds were committed by insiders
• Men are three times more likely to commit a fraud than women
• The most common types of fraud were false invoicing, theft of cash and fraudulent tendering
• A typical fraud lasts an average of two years before it is detected
• 91% of fraudsters don’t have a history of dishonesty

One would like to think that the special role of schools would be lower than in general society.

While there do not appear to be education sector specific statistics in Australia, the BDO Not for Profit Fraud Survey 2012 provides general support for the fact that fraud is just as much a problem in the “caring” sector with almost one in three organisations with turnover exceeding $10 million suffering a fraud.

Notably 57% of the NFPs surveyed did not report fraud to police, presumably due to concerns with respect to reputation and the potential effect on fund raising activities.

Potentially the most interesting statistic coming from the BDO survey was the fact that while only 8% of respondents assessed fraud as a problem for their organisation, 86% assessed fraud as a problem for the sector. This sounds like a classic case of “it wont happen to me”.

For those schools looking to implement a Fraud & Corruption Program it is recommended that they reference the Australian Fraud & Corruption Control Standard AS 8001-2008.