Fraud detection review and forensic investigation for higher education institutes:

Phase 1: Fraud Detection Review

Phase 1: Fraud Detection Review

Revenue
Subsidy grants, school fees, lease rentals, donations, fundraising, and any other income.
Expenditure
Services, maintenance, leases, salaries (for both department and SGB employees); and any other expenses.
Other matters
Review of all contracts/service level agreements, review of all projects, review of school assets and review of appointments of educators.

Phase 2: Detailed Investigation

We then conduct a detailed investigation depending on the irregularities identified from the fraud detection review. Our approach will follow the step-by-step approach, which includes the following:

 

Groundwork and Planning

The groundwork procedures will assist us to prepare a detailed project plan which will be presented for discussion and approval. 

Evidence Collection and Interviews

  • This phase will include the collection and review of relevant documentation and consultative interviews with relevant officials. We will also conduct interviews with other witnesses to be identified during the investigation.
Reporting

During this phase, we will consolidate our findings and issue our report. We will provide regular progress updates in a format to be agreed on. Our written formal report will outline procedures performed to date and our findings and recommendations

Proposed procedures to be performed

Fraud detection will entail reviewing policies, processes, and procedures about the school's revenue, expenditure, and assets.

We will then review relevant documentation to ascertain the following: 

Completeness of revenue received

Whether the expenditure incurred was approved correctly, supported and in line with the budget; and whether assets are correctly accounted for and recorded in the asset register.

Sections Considered:

  • Income
  • Expenditure
  • Contracts/Service Level Agreements/Projects
  • School Assets
  • Appointment of Educators
Probity Review for High Education Institutes
  • Workstream planned activities procedures
  • Review relevant legislation, policies and procedures;
  • Interview SCM officials, as applicable; and
  • Review relevant requests for proposal.
  • Appointment of the Bid Specifications Committee (BSC) members
  • Review the appointment of the Bid Specifications Committee members
  • Review formation of the Tender Specifications Committee and Bid Specifications Committee ("BSC")
  • Review the appointment of members
  • Verify compliance with relevant policies/procedures and legislation;
  • Interview relevant parties;
  • Review signed confidentiality agreements; and
  • Inform the bid committees of errors/weaknesses/non-compliance
  • Review the terms of reference (specifications) before advertisement and provide advice on areas of improvement
  • Review of the terms of reference
  • Review tender specifications from the user department and ascertain if they have been appropriately approved
  • Review request for proposal
  • Establish whether a need assessment was done, and the budget approved by the authorised officials;
  • Review any other relevant documentation; and
  • Interview relevant parties.

SNG Grant Thornton will perform an audit on the competitive bidding process using Audit Managers that are adequately skilled in the specific commodities and have experience in auditing public sector Supply Chain Management.

The probity audit process will provide quality assurance of the process implemented on specifications ensuring the following compliance areas are adequately addressed in each step of the process:

  • Regulatory Compliance;
  • Administrative compliance;
  • Compliance with Public Sector Supply Chain Management;
  • Internal control; and
  • Governance arrangements.