Fraud Prevention and Investigation, Oil India Ltd., India
This four-week bespoke training solution was designed to meet the needs of Oil India Ltd during the summer of 2008 to meet the needs of 20 participants comprising of junior and middle managers from Oil India Ltd. Nine of the participants were full time officers from the Vigilance Function whilst the remaining 11 participants represented a variety of other functions, namely, finance and administration, human resources, finance and procurement.
The training took place in both Delhi and London, split into three phases concentrating on Fraud Prevention and Investigation. The overall objective of the programme was to improve the effectiveness and impact of the Vigilance Function by focusing on the organisation and cohesion of investigation officers, and their awareness and application of fraud prevention and investigation techniques.
Phase 1
During May 2008 course participants were provided with foundation knowledge in fraud investigation and prevention – a risk-based system approach. Delegates were encouraged to take part in active learning sessions which covered the main aspects of fraud and the best practice in managing the risks of fraud.
Phase 2
The second phase brought the group of participants to London for two weeks. The learning sessions concentrated upon the planning for, execution of and reporting on fraud investigations with appropriate references to the importance of ensuring that future fraudulent activity would be prevented and detected.
The base theory was supplemented by sessions from expert tutors covering inter-personal skills, the use of computer-based analytical and neural mapping software, and witness and suspect interviewing skills.
Complimenting the overall learning experience for this phase was an external site visit to the Metropolitan Police Authority. The visit resulted in participants learning that the prime purpose of fraud investigation was to discover and understand how fraud was being committed in their company so that it could be stopped as soon as possible.
Phase 3
The last week was completed in India where the actions from phases 1 and 2 were followed up by the RIPA International Director of Studies and a review took place of how the participants’ action plans had been developed. Participants were encouraged to embed the tools and techniques from what they had previously learnt into Oil India’s future activities.
As a result of this training, participants’ developed an understanding of the different roles and responsibilities of other parties involved in dealing with fraud and their inter-dependencies and relationships.
Participants were encouraged to apply a disciplined, systematic and structured approach to:
- Creating a proactive, focussed vigilance plan
- Dealing with reported cases of alleged fraud
- Investigating selected cases
These key areas of study improved the understanding and awareness of the different approaches available in the application of fraud prevention and investigation techniques for Oil India and was enhanced by several guest speakers and a site visit of best practice.