NCJ Number
72943
Date Published
1979
Length
43 pages
Annotation
To eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse in government, the Comptroller General appointed a special task force for the prevention of fraud; this statement details the objectives and efforts of that task force.
Abstract
The General Accounting Office Fraud Task Force was established in 1978 with two major responsibilities: (1) to evaluate the adequacy of the management control systems in Federal agencies that are necessary for the prevention of fraud, and (2) to assess the adequacy of followup and corrective actions taken on reports of auditors and investigators. To accomplish its objectives the task force mounted three principal efforts: (1) the establishment of a hotline telephone to give citizens anywhere in the nation an opportunity to assist in eliminating fraud and abuse in Federal programs, (2) a series of vulnerability assessments to determine whether agencies audited have adequate internal accounting or management controls to prevent or discourage fraud in the future, and (3) an overall effort to determine the extent of fraud in Federal agencies and programs and its causes. After the first 6 weeks of operation, the hotline telephone had received over 3,000 allegations; followup on these calls is being conducted. Vulnerability assessments will be made of agencies selected for audit by the task force. Such assessments are expect to recover funds, create risk profiles on the agencies audited, and develop standard audit packages which could be used by all Federal agencies. Further, an overview effort, employing 26 full-time staff members, will focus on 21 major Federal departments. Estimated savings from these measures are appended.