Haringey Council worker steals nearly £500 000

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on December 3, 2015 at 23:15

Thanks for posting the link empyrean_aisles.

This is shocking of itself.

However all the more so, when one considers that the fraud began in 2009 when it was clear (following the banking crisis and gigantic government bail-out) that public funds would become more scarce than before.

The huge fraud appears to have run unchecked for approximately five years and it speaks to a lack of management controls for the spending of public funds.

I note the money had been destined for carers.

CDC
Haringey Councillor
Liberal Democrat Party

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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on December 4, 2015 at 8:21

Clive, do you know if Haringey have held some kind of enquiry about how this happened and continued happening for 5 years and what they have put in place to stop it happening again? As the fraud was on such a huge scale all of this should be made public.

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on December 4, 2015 at 9:42

Michael, no, I don't know and I couldn't agree more with the point you make.

The Council is committed to transparency, except where it doesn't suit, which is much of the time. I seem to remember that the case was uncovered – belatedly – by an internal audit.  If there has been a subsequent internal enquiry, then I don't know about it.

The fraud may or may not be related to the £30,000,000 invoice payment backlog. My understanding is that it is not the job of an (external) auditor to uncover fraud, but I was nonetheless surprised to see no reference to the case or to fraud in general in the (brief) Annual Audit letter.

The public has little information about these matters, yet it is public money we're talking about.

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Permalink Reply by Konrad B on December 3, 2015 at 23:24

"Within five months of being recruited in 2009, Elkatme, who was jailed for three and a half years, put relatives and friends as ‘carers’ in the payment system to receive money."

Were none of this woman's managers checking up on what she was doing?  Why did it take so long to uncover this fraud?  Will disciplinary action be taken against her managers for allowing this to happen.  Does Haringey Council have any systems in place to stop future fraud?  Will any of the money be recovered?  

And what were the councillors doing?  It is their job to oversee the spending of our taxes, they aren't doing a very good job.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on December 4, 2015 at 14:28

"relatives and friends" - this implies that a group of people thought it was acceptable to do this. They thought that it would have no effect on others or they didn't care.

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Permalink Reply by empyrean_aisles on December 4, 2015 at 8:49

She used the money to pay off her mortgage. That means she has an asset that can be sold off in order to get back the money.

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Permalink Reply by Shelene Hawkins on December 4, 2015 at 10:34

Totally agree.  People work for 25 years to pay off their homes.  After 3 years she at the tax payers expense, hers is totally paid off.  Where is the justice?

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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on December 4, 2015 at 11:03

I think you're right. You'd expect the assets of crime, for example drug dealing, to be confiscated. I think this case is even worse as it both defrauded public money and took funds away from vulnerable people who could have really benefitted from having care costs met. I'm an ex-public sector employee and even finding a work Biro in my bag gave me a sleepless night. Stuff like this makes blood boil.

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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on December 4, 2015 at 15:38

The Guardian, unthinkingly followed by half a dozen holier-than-thou Holiers, should be thoroughly ashamed of their biased report and comments against the Elkatme family, their loyal friends, relatives and associates. Ceyda's husband Jihad's benign influence on her illustrates so clearly the true meaning of jihad : "to strive constantly; to apply oneself over time; to be relentless in struggle; to persevere; to exert unrelenting efforts to change oneself."

Even those of you with a cruder definition of jihad or who, perchance, favour a more militaristic Haringey caliphate must have something to learn from Ceyda & Jihad's persistent striving in their unheralded struggle over more than five years to change themselves, their lot and that of their nearest and dearest. This is the internal struggle that truly counts, and that will lead to the untold joys of Jannah. Personally, as a(n) LBH Band G Council Tax Payer, I am humbled, proud and privileged to have contributed in however small a way since 2009 to the shining example of their success. I call for their immediate release to the enjoyment of the fruits of their long labour, and for Ceyda's reinstatement to her loyal service of LBH. I trust her face will grace the cover of Haringey People's bumper Christmas issue.   

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