Item - 2019.AU1.5

The Audit Committee recommends that:

1. City Council receive the report (February 6, 2019) from the Auditor General for information.

The following City staff gave a presentation to the Audit Committee on this Item:

- Beverly Romeo-Beehler, Auditor General

- Elaine Au, Director, Forensic Unit

This report represents the 2018 annual report on fraud, waste and wrongdoing at the City including the activities of the Fraud and Waste Hotline Program (the Hotline Program). It highlights the complaints that have been communicated to the Auditor General’s Office. It does not represent an overall picture of fraud or other wrongdoing across the City.

In 2018, 643 complaints comprised of approximately 1,000 allegations were received by the Auditor General’s Office.

The Hotline Program has helped to reduce losses and resulted in the protection of City assets. The cumulative total of actual and potential losses for complaints received in previous years (2014 to 2018) is more than $14.8 million (actual) plus $3.2 million (potential) had the fraud not been detected. Additional benefits that are not quantifiable include:

- the deterrence of fraud or wrongdoing
- strengthened internal controls
- improvements in policies and procedures
- increased operational efficiencies
- the ability to use complaint data to identify trends, address risks, make action-oriented recommendations to management and inform the audit work plan.