Gregory F. Vokoun, MBA, CPA/CFF, CIA/CRMA, CFE, CGFM, CGAP, CGMA Statewide Geriatric Accountant...

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Gregory F. Vokoun, MBA, CPA/CFF, CIA/CRMA, CFE, CGFM, CGAP, CGMA

Statewide Geriatric Accountant (Professional Practice Administrator)

General Accounting OfficeArizona Department of Administration

Governmental Procurement and the Fraud that Accompanies It

Procurement Fraud 2

Standard

“In planning the audit, auditors should consider risks due to fraud that could significantly affect their audit objectives and the results of their audit.”

Yellow Book, Chapter 7

Procurement Fraud 3

Learning Objectives

Gain familiarity with procurement process

Gain familiarity with fraud vulnerabilities in the procurement process

Gain familiarity with fraud considerations in the procurement process

Earn an hour of CPE

Procurement Fraud 4

Procurement’s Centrality to Governmental Operations

Supplies Equipment Buildings School lunches Health insurance Heavy equipment Maintenance Transportation Buildings

Roads Sewers Weapons Professional fees Street lights Communication After school care Printing Etc.

Procurement Fraud 5

Intentional deception perpetrated to secure

unlawful gain

Procurement Fraud 6

Fraud Triangle

Procurement’s Vulnerability Because it is so central to operations,

Procurement is involved in one way or another in the expenditure of a significant portion of a governmental entity’s funds.

Because it is involved in the expenditure of funds, Procurement is the target of fraudulent endeavors.

In other words, PROCUREMENT offers a great deal of OPPORTUNITY for FRAUD.

Procurement Fraud 7

Procurement Fraud 8

Fraud Circle

Money? People? Fraud!

Procurement Fraud 9

Procurement Fraud Perpetrators Government employees or management

Procurement personnel Purchasing personnel Receiving personnel Payment personnel Program personnel Contract administration personnel Accounting personnel Management personnel Audit personnel Etc.

Contractor employees or management Etc.

Procurement Fraud 10

Faith-based Contracting

“A procurement process whereby the government essentially hopes and prays that

the contractor does not rip them off too badly.”

Bruce Causseaux, USGAO

The Procurement ProcessThe Essential Phases

Identify Need Establish Specifications Solicit & Evaluate Bids & Proposals Draft & Negotiate & Award

Contract Monitor Performance

Organization and Terminology

By Phase Vulnerabilities

Susceptibilities to attack Considerations

Things kept in mind in making decisions or evaluating facts

Founding Father’s Observation

“There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government.”

Benjamin Franklin, Publisher and Inventor

Identify Need

Vulnerabilities Considerations

Identify NeedVulnerabilities

Unneeded goods or services Excess goods or services Unmerited urgency

Identify NeedConsiderations

Why was this particular good or service purchased?

Why was so much of a particular good purchased?

Why is so much of this service needed? What does it do? Why does it cost so much?

Was this really an emergency procurement?

Is this really the only provider of a particular good or service?

Something to Think About

“There’s something civil servants have that the private sector doesn’t and that is the duty of loyalty to the greater good—the duty of loyalty to the collective best interest of all rather than the interest of a few. Companies have duties of loyalty to their shareholders, not to the

country.” David Walker, former Comptroller General of the USA

Establish Specifications

Establish SpecificationsVulnerabilities

Unnecessarily restrictive specifications

Vague / incomplete / defective specifications

Unwarranted feature creep Specifications that don’t add value Inappropriate or missing

performance / quality standards

Establish SpecificationsConsiderations

Contractor involved in writing specifications

Specifications designed to fit but one contractor

Contractor provided with advance information

Requirement splitting

What a Surprise!

“To us contractors, money is always a good thing.”

An executive of a Federal contractor

Solicit & Evaluate Bids & Proposals

Solicit & Evaluate Bids & ProposalsVulnerabilities

Bid rigging Contract unbalancing Bid rotation and sporadic bidding Kickbacks / “pay-to-play” schemes Token / complimentary / shadow

bids Market allocation

Solicit & Evaluate Bids & ProposalsVulnerabilities (Continued)

Change order schemes S-/ W-/ M-/ L-/ D-/ BE

misrepresentation

Solicit & Evaluate Bids & ProposalsConsiderations

Falsification / misrepresentation of credentials / certifications / experience / financial performance / successes

Excessive / repetitive use of one contractor in a competitive field

Inadequate publication of solicitation

Fraternization with contractors Recommendations / endorsements

Solicit & Evaluate Bids & ProposalsConsiderations (Continued)

Turns taken in submitting low bids Pattern in awards to vendors Winning contractor uses losers as

subcontractors Competitors refrain from bidding Competitors submit unreasonably

high bids

Eminently qualified contractors uncharacteristically refrain from bidding on contracts: aspects of project; certain locations; entire contracts

Most competitors submit excessively high bids so the contract goes to the competitor with the merely somewhat high bid

False, out-of-date, misleading data used to support proposal

S-/ W-/ M-/ L-/ D-/ BE certifications Bid patterns: too close, too high,

round numbers, identical margins or percentages (either winners or losers)

Different contractors making identical errors in bids

Different / losing contractors with same bids / identical line items

Bid prices drop when new bidder enters market

Similarities between multiple bidders: same addresses, phones, people

Persistent and unjustified high prices from all bidders compared in local market compared to other markets

Joint venture bids by firms that usually bid independently

Storefronting between natural rivals

Losers’ bids deemed non-responsive / non-compliant / incomplete

The Buck Stops Here

“I have never yet found a contractor, who if not watched, would not leave the government holding the bag.”

Harry S. Truman, former US President

Draft & Negotiate & Award Contract

Draft & Negotiate & Award ContractVulnerabilities

Disclosure of confidential information resulting in a competitive advantage

Poorly documented source selection

Failure to comply with procurement process

Bias or favoritism during evaluation process or contract award

Draft & Negotiate & Award ContractVulnerabilities (Continued)

Misrepresentation of firm’s capabilities / qualifications

Awards to firms which are incapable or unqualified

False vendors Undisclosed employee ownership

or financial interest in vendor

Draft & Negotiate & Award ContractConsiderations

Information possessed by one contractor but not by others

Poorly written or poorly followed policies governing source selection

Awards to contractors with poor histories of past performance

Socialization

Draft & Negotiate & Award ContractConsiderations (Continued)

Failure to disclose required information

Disqualification of a qualified offeror without adequate or adequately documented justification

Draft & Negotiate & Award ContractConsiderations (Continued)

Contractor gift(s) to employee(s) Post-award employment Unusual or unnecessary middlemen or

brokers Unwarranted favoritism of a given

contractor Matching addresses, etc., between

contractors, contractors and employees, etc.

A Pie Chart

Monitor Performance

Monitor PerformanceVulnerabilities

False claims False pricing data False time records Progress payment fraud Product substitution Ghost employees

Monitor PerformanceVulnerabilities

Contract swapping Undisclosed employee ownership

or financial interest in contractor or subcontractors

Monitor PerformanceConsiderations

Inadequate / undeservedly favorable evaluation of contractor’s performance

Altered inspection reports Missing / altered serial numbers /

model numbers / labels Requests for payments

inconsistent with prior cost data

Monitor PerformanceConsiderations (Continued)

Frequent invoice / voucher errors Poor cost documentation Counterfeit labeling Claims for unallowable costs Little physical progress on contract

though significant costs have been billed

Material mischarging: price Material mischarging: quantity Material mischarging: quality Labor mischarging: time Labor mischarging: rate Systemic mischarging: extension

Double counting costs as both direct and indirect

Professional fees: large sums charged for “services rendered” with few details

Significant number of field failures Unauthorized changes Altered / missing / late test reports

Unexpected / premature part failures

Restricted access to storage / production facilities

Restricted access to records Delayed access to records No segregation between

contracting, purchasing, receiving, storing, issuing, inspection, etc.

Continued acceptance of high priced goods or services

Continued acceptance of substandard goods or services

Failure to file financial disclosure forms

Change in employee lifestyle Employee declines promotions

Socialization between employee and contractor / vendor

Vendor / contractor and employee address / phone match

Post office boxes Change orders: numerous / costly Contractor inability to perform

Payments made that are unsupported by invoices

Multiple purchases under bid limits Misdirection Protests Failure to take advantage of

existing contracts

Off-contract purchases Emergency procurements Sole source procurements Impractical to compete

procurements Latent defects Double billing Improper indirect cost pool

components

Altered, missing documents Irregularities between standard

stationary and other document logos

Unusually high volume purchased from one vendor

Vendor resists inspection Expect originals but get

photocopies

High rate of rejections Required certifications not signed Vendor, not buyer, selects samples

for testing No warranties provided Gratuities Failure to claim discounts

Labor Match between budget & actual too

good Alteration to timecards Timecards filled out by management Inconsistencies between timecards &

bills Job misclassification Reallocation of charges

S-/ W-/ M-/ L-/ D-/ BEs Employees shuttle back and forth between

BEs Payments to be made to other than BE BE owner not involved after award Interlocking ownership between BE and non-

BE BE always uses same non-BE as

subcontractor BE owner without appropriate background

Universal Elements / Causes

Bribery Kickbacks Conflict of Interest

MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO AROUND

Universal Indicators of Fraud

Unaccountably lavish lifestyles Excessive socialization between

employees and contractors Favoritism Post-service employment Avoidance of standard procedures /

audit / oversight

Universal Indicators of Fraud(Continued)

Unwarranted praise Excessive urgency Avoidance of oversight Employees shifting between

contractors Repetitive use of subcontractors Interlocking ownership or

management

Universal Enablers

Apathy / Disinterest Lack of Knowledge / Understanding Sergeant Schultzing

Universal Remedies

Knowledge and Understanding Vigilance Predictable Punishment Ethics

Procurement FraudWho Benefits?

“One of the side benefits of the contracting officers being so overwhelmed was that the existing contracts were extended rather than put up for new competitive bidding.”

A Federal Contractor

Procurement FraudWho Pays?

“Ultimately, corruption schemes cause governments to overpay for services (since the lowest bidder would likely have been selected had corruption not taken place), thus benefiting the perpetrator at the expense of taxpayers.”

It Can’t Happen Here

Gregory F. Vokoun, MBA, CPA/CFF, CIA/CRMA, CFE, CGFM, CGAP, CGMA Statewide Geriatric Accountant...

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