Birmingham City Council officer in fraud investigation

The ongoing investigation was revealed in the council's latest audit risk assessment

A former Birmingham City Council worker is under investigation for alleged fraud, it has been revealed.

West Midlands Police arrested 50-year-old woman from Birmingham on suspicion of fraud in May 2017, who has since been released pending investigation.

The ongoing inquiry was revealed in the council's latest audit risk assessment, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

The council said it has taken a number of steps since the alleged offence.

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But, it is unable to give any further details about the suspect, the department involved, the nature of the crime or the amount of money involved, due to the ongoing police investigation.

The report said the alleged 'theft of monies' led to a 'major overhaul of the systems and processes within that service area'.

The matter was reported to Action Fraud and West Midlands Police's Economic Crime Unit on April 25 last year which led to the arrest.

Birmingham City Council confirmed the officer no longer worked for the council.

It said it has conducted an "end to end review of procedures" on the back of the alleged crimes, looking at payment methods, access controls, segregation of duties and the level of management oversight."

'High risk'

New management controls have also been introduced to aid the prevention and detection of fraud.

The council said bringing in these new measures had not incurred any additional costs.

Grant Thornton, which conducted the assessment where the investigation was brought to light, said the council generally faces an ongoing threat of fraud particularly in the areas around social housing and council tax applications which were described as 'high risk'.