Fraud against the council

An agency worker is provided by an employment agency to perform agreed duties for a set period. Fraud may include:

• claiming payment for hours not worked

•  charging excessive rates

• providing work below the required standard

View our Benefit and Council Tax Fraud page to find out more about reporting suspected fraud which provides details of fraud within benefits or exemptions that the Council award. In addition to fraud within these areas, individuals can commit fraud to avoid a council tax liability, for example a landlord providing a fictious tenancy agreement to avoid paying council tax on an empty property or a HMO.

View our Blue Badge parking permit page for information about reporting suspected fraud.

View our Business Rates fraud page for information about reporting suspected Business Rates fraud.

Employee fraud occurs when an employee manipulates Council systems or breaches policies for their own benefit or that of another person.

Are you aware of an employee committing fraud against the Council?

Examples of employee fraud against Telford & Wrekin Council include:

• creating false customer records or bank accounts to generate fraudulent payments

• processing false benefit, grant or repayment claims for accomplices

• authorising payments to themselves

• claiming travel or subsistence for journeys not made, submitting false client-entertainment expenses, or claiming more than was spent

• making unauthorised changes to documents such as timesheets

• forging signatures to authorise payments

• working elsewhere while on sick leave

• misusing flexible working-time systems

• carrying out personal work while being paid by the Council

• providing Council information to outsiders for personal gainaltering customer debt records in exchange for cash or other incentives

Members of the public may claim against the Council for personal injury or loss they believe it caused, such as an injury resulting from an accident on a public footpath.

Are you aware of anyone making a false insurance claim against the Council? Examples include:

• exaggerating injuries or damage caused by a genuine accident

• overstating the value of lost, stolen or damaged property

• claiming for an item that never existed

• claiming for an accident that never occurred

• staging an accident to support a claim

• claiming against the Council for an accident that happened elsewhere

• submitting inflated invoices that include unrelated work or items

Money laundering disguises money obtained through criminal activity, such as drug trafficking or terrorist financing, to make it appear legitimate. The criminal funds are considered “dirty”, and laundering makes them look “clean”. Money laundering is itself a criminal offence.

Criminals may use proceeds of crime to purchase services from

Telford & Wrekin Council

Criminals may use Council services to try and clean their dirty money and request a refund to make it appear genuine.

If an individual or company obtains funds from the Council falsely, then uses that money, this is a money laundering offence.

Are you aware of any person or organisation using proceeds of crime to make payments to the Council?

Procurement is the process of obtaining goods and services to meet the needs of a person, group or organisation. The Council purchases range from everyday items, such as stationery, to major projects, including street lighting and buildings, and long-term specialist services, such as waste management and care provision.

Are you aware of any person or organisation failing to provide goods or services in line with the Council’s requirements? Examples include:

• bidders colluding to avoid competing fairly for a contract

• Council employees accepting bribes, such as money, goods, services, holidays or hospitality, to favour a person or organisation when awarding contracts

• employees making false payments or overpayments to businesses

• employees approving invoices for goods intended for personal use

• businesses submitting false invoices for incomplete work, undelivered goods or extra costs deliberately omitted from the original quotation or tender

• businesses submitting duplicate invoices for goods or services already paid for

• businesses overcharging by inflating hourly rates or applying excessive mark-ups to goods

• businesses supplying goods or services below the specified or expected standard

• businesses providing false or inflated performance information to secure higher payments

• businesses supplying substandard goods
  

Recruitment and selection aims to appoint the right person, with the right skills, at the right time. The process is governed by extensive legislation.

Are you aware of anyone working for the Council who should not be? Examples include:

• manipulating the recruitment process to favour a particular applicant

• employees providing false or inaccurate application information, such as references, qualifications or employment history

• employees using fake or forged identity documents

• employees without valid permission to work in the UK

• improperly recruiting a family member or friend

Social care fraud can take several forms, including:

• an individual, representative or attorney failing to disclose income, money or assets to qualify for financial assistance

• an individual, representative or attorney failing to report a financial change that ends or reduces entitlement to assistance

Personal Budgets, also known as Direct Payments, give service users, representatives or attorneys greater control over purchasing care. Transferring control of these funds may increase the risk of fraud. Examples include:

• fraudulently obtaining a larger Personal Budget than the person’s condition or care needs justify

• failing to declare capital or assets to obtain a larger Personal Budget

• applying for or receiving Personal Budgets from more than one council

• paying for care that was not provided

• using false receipts or invoices to justify Personal Budget spendingbuying goods or services unrelated to the person’s care needs

• paying a close family member as a carer when they are not eligible

• failing to report reduced care needs

• a carer using a person’s Personal Budget for their own benefit

• continuing to receive Personal Budget payments or submit timesheets after the service user has died

• financially exploiting a vulnerable person

Telford & Wrekin Council administers various grant schemes to support local individuals and businesses. Some grants are awarded on behalf of government departments, while others are funded from the Council’s own budget.

Individuals or businesses may use false information to obtain grants for which they are not eligible.

They may also provide false information to justify how grant funds were spent.

Mandate fraud occurs when a fraudster impersonates a regular supplier or payee and persuades an organisation to change the bank details for a direct debit, standing order or bank transfer. The payment is then diverted from the genuine recipient to the fraudster.

For example, a fraudster may pose as a genuine Council supplier and request that future payments be sent to a different bank account. Fraudulent requests can closely imitate the supplier’s emails and website, making them appear authentic.

Refund fraud occurs when someone makes a payment to the Council using stolen or false card details, then asks for the refund to be paid into a different account. When the cardholder reports the unauthorised payment and obtains a chargeback, the Council loses both the original payment and the money refunded to the fraudster.

This type of fraud is common in Council Tax and business rates. A fraudster may falsely claim to occupy a home or business premises, pay the full amount using stolen card details, then quickly report that they have left and request a refund.

This list is not exhaustive. Individuals, groups or businesses may obtain Council money or services fraudulently by providing false or misleading information or by failing to disclose information they are required to report.