Fraud-i Ltd has launched Fraud-i, a new web-based fraud management tool, to provide what the firm describes as a combined fraud awareness and training strategy.
Fraud-i Ltd is a new joint venture formed by Hibis Europe and Capital Eye, fraud detection and prevention companies. In its development phase, Fraud-i has met with a positive response from a cross-section of leading organisations, according to the firm. It already has installations in five European blue-chip corporations and negotiations are well advanced, the firm adds, with a further six potential customers.
What they say
Alan McDonagh, director of Fraud-i Ltd, says: โCorporate fraud is the largest unmanaged organisation risk today, costing businesses typically between two and five percent of total sales. Companies today spend huge sums of money in protecting the business against disasters, especially in the wake of September 11, yet senior management often ignores the threat posed by corporate theft and corruption, which is much more likely to bring down a business.โ
A mirror
Launched after three yearsโ development, Fraud-i brings together fraud awareness and training in an integrated solution, it is claimed, ensuring that everyone understands the risks, highlighting early warning signs of potential
fraudulent activity and taking every action possible to prevent fraud, the firm adds.
Fellow director, Simon Imbert, says: โEqually, Fraud-i provides a first line of defence against contractor fraud, by similarly making staff of third party suppliers aware of the companyโs fraud management policies and ethics, the penalties for breaking such policies and how to use mechanisms for โspeaking upโ or whistle-blowing any suspected wrong-doing.โ
Fraud-i is designed to run over the internet on an external server or an internal server over an intranet. As part of this, the Fraud Awareness Training Pack includes a structured 30-minute on-line questionnaire which seeks to establish current awareness throughout the organisation. โCritically,โ says McDonagh, โit also increases understanding of what constitutes corporate fraud, by โred flaggingโ a range of activities which may indicate fraudulent activity or unethical behaviour. Corruption can take place at all levels of the business – from straightforward theft to management frauds such as price fixing, taking supplier kickbacks and manipulation of sales or stock figures – and shop-floor staff often have a unique perspective on the early-warning signs of unethical or fraudulent activity. Fraud-i therefore provides a unique โmirror under the businessโ enabling staff at any level to express their concerns, anonymously or otherwise, and โspeak upโ against fraud.โ
Message from top
Common to those organisations already working with, or in discussion with, Fraud-i Ltd is the importance of setting the tone for stamping out corruption from the top, as part of a broader approach to business ethics, Fraud-i says. As one corporate policy succinctly puts it: โWe will not tolerate fraud. Our fraud policy and guidelines alert management to the ways in which fraud can happen
and identify best practices to prevent it.โ With the launch of Fraud-i, such organisations now have a cost-effective and finely-targeted tool, it is claimed, to ensure that all staff are fully aware of corporate policies, what constitutes fraud against the company and what to look out for โ and bring to management attention โ early indications of possible fraudulent activity.
McDonagh adds: โOrganisations today are under increasing pressure to โput their house in orderโ. Regulation, such as Sarbanes-Oxley and Basel II, together with changing attitudes towards corporate social responsibility are forcing companies to adopt the highest ethical standards, reappraise reporting procedures and improve methods of detecting and dealing with corporate fraud. With the introduction of Fraud-i, for the first time they now have a comprehensive and cost-efficient โtoolboxโ for creating effective, organisation-wide fraud management and prevention strategies. In short, it enables organisations to become โfraud responsibleโ.โ
About Fraud-i Ltd i
A new joint venture company formed by fraud prevention consultants, Hibis Europe (headed by Allan McDonagh) and Capital Eye (co-founded by former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Lord Imbert QPM JP). Fraud-i Ltd is based in Dorking, Surrey.
