Auditor urges review of monitoring services after failed attempt to defraud Derry City Council

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Tuesday, 20 September 2016 11:26

Local Government Auditor, Louise Mason, says a review of fraud monitoring structures should be launched in the wake of a failed attempt to defraud Derry City Council.

In February 2015 the former Derry City Council was scammed out of £100,000 after paying money into a fraudulent bank account.

The loss was highlighted when a contractor contacted council saying they hadn’t been paid for work completed.

An investigation showed a fraudulent letter claiming a change in the contractor’s bank details had been sent to council, believing the new bank details to be correct staff paid the money owed into the account.

Once the error was identified the funds were recovered and a probe launched into the incident.

Ms Mason noted that the Council has since "strengthened the internal controls in place to mitigate against this risk in future", she added:

"I recommend that the Department [for Communities] should consider the current structures in place to monitor frauds, gather and collate information and bring trends and lessons to the attention of the sector as a whole."