Public Sector Fraud Awareness and Forensic Audit Manual submitted to President |10 December 2019

The Seychelles public sector is now equipped with the knowledge to prevent, detect and investigate fraud and corrupt practices.

The applicable methodology and techniques drawn on from international good practices have been documented in a manual titled ‘Seychelles Public Sector Fraud Awareness and Forensic Audit Manual’.

A copy of the manual was presented to President Danny Faure on Friday December 6 by Auditor General Gamini Herath.

The manual is the final product of a six-week-long project undertaken by the

Office of the Auditor General (OAG) with the financial assistance from the US embassy in Mauritius under the FTIF.

The project was undertaken during October and November with the participation of over 50 delegates from several public entities, namely, Financial Intelligence Unit, Seychelles Revenue Commission, Financial Services Authority, Anti-Corruption Commission Seychelles, Internal Audit Division of the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprise Monitoring Commission.

The US embassy appointed the project consultant and the project involved stakeholder need assessment and theoretical sessions followed by practical training and capacity building in respective public entities.

The OAG, which the supreme audit institution (SAI) in the land, is guided by International Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) auditing standards.

In the context of fraud and corruption, the relevant auditing standards provide that “auditors need to be alert for situations, control weaknesses, inadequacies in record keeping, errors and unusual transactions or results which could be indicative of fraud, improper or unlawful expenditure, unauthorised operations, waste, inefficiency or lack of probity”.

It is in this context that OAG has played a leading role in organising this much needed training intervention aimed at creating a greater fraud awareness in the public sector of Seychelles. Several public entities whose mandate involve either a regulatory, monitoring or an oversight function have benefited from this project. It was encouraging to note that all entities actively participated in various aspects of the project.

To be able to become more resilient in the prevention and detection of fraud, everyone needs to be more educated in detecting warning signs, or ‘red flags’, or even actual evidence of fraudulent activities. This manual will guide staff of various entities through the methodology for prevention, detention and investigation of fraudulent practices and corruption in the public sector.

The 200 copies of the manual will be distributed to members of cabinet, members of the National Assembly and all public entities through their accounting officers.

On receiving a copy of the manual, President Faure reiterated his unwavering support to fighting fraud and corruption and commended the efforts being made by various national institutions in furthering good governance, transparency and accountability citing “together we can stand strong against fraud and corruption”.

Press release from the OAG