Hamilton’s fraud and waste hotline hailed as an early success

A fraud and waste hotline, launched by the City of Hamilton in July 2019, is producing early results.

City auditor Charles Brown says there were five terminations, three disciplinary actions and two referrals to police, as a result of 85 reports received through the hotline in its first year of operation.

In his first annual report to councillors, Brown adds that his office has confirmed more than $200,000 in losses through fraud or waste. As of Sept. 22, 2020, he says the city has recovered $21,000 of those losses.

The hotline is designed to give employees, contractors and members of the public a confidential way of reporting suspicion or proof of wrongdoing on the part of civic employees or departments.

Councillor Chad Collins says it “seems to be a tremendous success” even if the results are “hard to swallow.”

Collins adds that “it happens in every organization and I’m glad that we’re able to demonstrate that we’re getting to the bottom of these issues, whether the complaint is coming internally or from a member of the public.”

Brown says the early results are no surprise since when you first launch a hotline, the numbers “typically take a couple of years to reach some kind of peak,” before they start to diminish.

He adds that “the fraud and waste hotline demonstrates the city’s commitment to transparency and accountability.”