County reportedly starts internal fraud hotline
A reader using a fake e-mail address sent me this today:
sent to all county employees today...Hard for me to tell whether this is real. Readers?The County Auditor's Office has launched the Good Government Hotline to provide County employees and the public with a method for reporting suspected fraud, abuse of position, and misuse of County resources.
Why does the County need the Good Government Hotline?
The presence of a reporting system reinforces the message that all County officials, managers, and employees are expected to follow the highest standards of ethical and legal behavior and to act as stewards of taxpayer resources.
A confidential reporting system administered by the elected, independent Auditor ensures objective review of reports. An effective reporting system can be the most useful tool in reducing losses due to fraud, abuse of position, and misuse of resources. In fact, the 2006 Report to the Nation from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found that tips received through hotlines and other sources accounted for 40% of the frauds initially detected in government organizations participating in the study, nearly double the number detected through any other source.
The Good Government Hotline uses the EthicsPoint system, a comprehensive and confidential reporting tool. The EthicsPoint system helps ensure that individuals can file a report anonymously, if they choose, and in the manner most comfortable or convenient to them. Reporters can access the Auditor's Good Government Hotline in a variety of ways:Proceed directly to the Multnomah County EthicsPoint reporting page at www.GoodGovHotline.com to submit an online report.
Access EthicsPoint at this address from any computer in the world: www.ethicspoint.com.
Follow the "File New Report" link and enter "Multnomah County."
Call EthicsPoint at 1-888-289-6839 (toll free) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Reports will be taken by a live intake specialist. Calls are not recorded and caller ID is disabled.
| Posted at 5:25 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (6)
Its real, friend. www.commissionercogen.com
Posted by cynical dem | October 3, 2007 7:38 PM
This is legit - the county auditor announced the hotline on her website. Also, hotlines managed by auditors are standard fare in municipal government.
Posted by Metro Watcher | October 3, 2007 7:39 PM
They should have gotten the number 1-800-4-BERNIE.
Posted by Jack Bog | October 3, 2007 7:44 PM
This is real, was included in the county budget, and is supported by the Board of Commissioners. I applaud Auditor Lavonne Griffin-Valade for making this a priority, and encourage other public agencies to do the same. Ted.
Posted by Ted Wheeler | October 3, 2007 8:32 PM
If we're lucky, Lisa Naito's neighbors will use the hotline to report whether she is really working on county business when she's not at her county office during the weekdays.
Posted by Metro Watcher | October 3, 2007 9:36 PM
It's about time. We're seeing too many stories in the newspapers about people not working full days, managers who hardly ever report to work, and staff who can embezzle money by simply writing checks to themselves...
Who knows what doesn't make it to the papers...
Posted by DV | October 4, 2007 6:59 PM