The Commonwealth Secretariat has overhauled its policies and procedures and strengthened mechanisms for oversight and line manager accountability, including external and internal audit.
These measures were taken in the wake of an incident of fraud uncovered in late 2011. An immediate and through investigation was conducted into the circumstances of this fraud and this investigation continued into 2012.
The Secretariat discovered that the fraudulent losses amounted to around £375,000.
The staff member was dismissed following a disciplinary process, and the Commonwealth Secretariat referred the matter to the police.
The fraud was carried out by a staff member, who was in a position of budgetary authority, and who faced criminal proceedings. Those proceedings led to the sentencing and jailing yesterday of the dismissed staff member.
The investigation into the case was transparent and the Secretariat informed stakeholders, including its member countries, about the circumstances of the loss, in accordance with its financial regulations.
This was a highly regrettable incident, particularly given the framework in which the Commonwealth Secretariat operates, as a publicly-funded organisation. Our insurers have since compensated the full amount, plus interest.
Our independent auditors have commended the Secretariat for the way it has handled the matter, and for the steps taken to strengthen internal controls to ensure this could never happen again.
The Commonwealth Secretariat remains committed to rigorous compliance procedures, and we appreciate the support we’ve received from the investigators, our staff, and our partners. We continue to reform our policies and procedures and are confident that the measures we’ve put in place will prevent any similar action in the future.
