Dunedin City Council (DCC) has passed a report to Police detailing its findings, following an investigation into alleged fraud relating to fleet vehicles at the council.
The alleged fraud totals $1.5m and centres on the DCC receiving no proceeds from the sale of 152 vehicles from its vehicle fleet.
Deloitte was engaged by the DCC on 23 May to investigate the alleged fraud after staff alerted management to an apparent
discrepancy in the number of Citifleet vehicles.
Citifleet is responsible for the management of all DCC vehicles, the operation of an internal courier service and an internal chauffeuring service. The DCC fleet of 122 vehicles includes cars, trucks, motorcycles, vans and various trailers, plant and machinery.
DCC Chief Executive Officer Dr Sue Bidrose said the matter is now with the Police and that the Deloitte report would not be released at this stage.
“We are changing things here at the DCC and it is these changes that uncovered this alleged fraud, which occurred over at least a decade,” Dr Bidrose said. “This reinforces the need for these changes, which, frankly are long overdue.”
DCC has already implemented changes to tighten its processes, which include the publishing of tenders on the DCC website for greater transparency and the creation of a central contracts register.
Further work in progress includes the appointment of a dedicated Risk and Internal Audit Manager, fraud training for all staff and the review of the procurement and tendering processes across the DCC.
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