Those involved in $2.2 million vocational education and training scam to be taught a lesson

Publisher
Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission
Date published
September 2020

Relevant impacts: Financial impact, government outcomes impact, reputational impact and industry impact.

A former Victorian public servant and 3 individuals associated with an external provider have been charged with 55 offences relating to alleged dodgy TAFE qualifications and training.

In 2017, Operation Lansdowne found that a lack of oversight by 2 TAFEs had led to a $2.2 million Vocational Education and Training scam. Training company TayTell had received the money to subsidise training for staff at a range of companies through 2 TAFE institutions, but the training is alleged not to have taken place.

"The evidence found by IBAC so far gives rise to serious concerns that some of these individuals have, over several years, been able to exploit weaknesses in these industry sectors and perhaps to influence the conduct of a number of public officials in order to derive significant financial benefits for themselves and for their friends and family," Counsel Assisting Ian Hill QC said at the time.

Those charged are now facing offences including conspiracy to defraud, obtaining financial advantage by deception, using and supplying identification information, dealing with proceeds of crime, misconduct in public office and computer-related crimes.

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Related fraudster personas

The Fabricator

The Fabricator invents or produces something that is false to dishonestly gain personal benefits.

The Organised

The Organised are groups which use a combination of methods in planned, coordinated and sophisticated ways to dishonestly gain benefits.

The Exploiter

The Exploiter uses something for a wrongful purpose to dishonestly gain personal benefits.

The Coercer

The Coercer influences, manipulates or bribes another person to act in a desired way to dishonestly gain personal benefits.

Related countermeasures

Governance, accountability and oversight

Establish governance, accountability and oversight of processes by using delegations and requiring committees and project boards to oversee critical decisions and risk. Good governance, accountability and oversight increases transparency and reduces the opportunity for fraud.

Managerial, independent or expert oversight

Make sure a manager, independent person or expert oversees actions and decisions. Involving multiple people in actions and decisions increases transparency and reduces the opportunity for fraud.

Staff and contractor rotation

Rotate staff and contractors in and out of roles to avoid familiarity. Staff and contractors can become too familiar with processes, customers or vendors, which can lead to insider threats.

Segregation of duties

Separate duties by allocating tasks and associated privileges for a business process to multiple staff. This is very important in areas such as payroll, finance, procurement, contract management and human resources. Systems help to enforce the strong separation of duties. This is also known as segregation of duties.

Quality assurance checks

Conduct quality assurance activities to confirm that processes are being followed correctly and to a high standard and/or that material or goods are what they are claimed to be. Quality assurance checks not only improve processing standards, they can also detect potentially fraudulent activity and are a significant deterrent to fraud.

Audits or reviews

Internal or external audits or reviews evaluate the process, purpose and outcome of activities. Clients, public officials or contractors can take advantage of weaknesses in government programs and systems to commit fraud, act corruptly, and avoid exposure.

Document capture and storage

Capture documents and other evidence for requests, claims and activities to detect, analyse, investigate and disrupt fraudulent activity.

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