I have a moral and legal dilemma........................ Please answer honestly.?

Question

I used to work for a childrens charity, until just last week. I have left, but before i went i whistle blew on fraud that i had uncovered. In short, the charity is funded by the local social service department to provide foster carer's for disabled kids. The kids live with mum and dad and stay with the carer and their family one weekend a month. The agency have been claiming that they have provided more care than they actually have. This has been going on for about 13 years, when i came across it i went straight to my Director of services and expressed my concerns. I found this out four weeks ago, , i spoke to my union rep straight away. I have all the evidence to support my allegation. My dilemma is... If i pursue this, the agency will be forced to close as they will lose their funding from both local social services. But the children and their families that recieve services from the agency will suffer more than anyone else. This is a heck of alot of money not a few pounds.

Plus ll the bad publicty that the agency will recieve would mean other services tht they provide would cease as well. The amount of money that they have defrauded is in the region of £25000.

mustbe....... Yes i fully understand that every country needs more foster carers. But also each local authority needs to have the funding to pay for these carer's. As with the agency that i worked for, i think my problem wouldn't be so bad if the money that they have over charged was spent soley on the children concerned. But it wasn't, the carer's recieve a very small payment, this being £5.95 for 8hours, wen a child visits, if the child stays over night they recieve an additional £11.20. Where as the Director of services and Chief Exe' are paid £35000 each per ann'.

Unfortunately those involved and are aware of this fraud are. 1. Director of Services, 2. Director of Finances. 3 Head of H.R. 4. The board of Trustees.
So it is those that run this charity that know of the fraud and have known of it for many years.

Thanks guys for all your thoughts and comments. I know that i have to take this further. I have contacted the agency again this week and asked for the investigating officer to contact me direct, as i have evidence that he will need to see for his investigation. I have given them a time scale of 10 working days before i hand the evidence and report over to C.S.C.I and their funders. H.C.C. Hopefully those involved in this fraud will have to answer questions that no doubt will be asked of them. My union rep has been very supportive in this matter, along with my solicitor, thank fully they both hold a copy of the evidence in question. One thing that has come to light, the amount of money in question is much greater than i first quoted, it is in fact £250000 for the past three years. It would appear that the company have over-charged H.C.C to the sum of £3.4mil. As this is much greater than what i first thought i actually ow have no choice other than to follow it through.

Answer 1

It may have occurred to you, that maybe it be possible for you to stop the fraud from happening without bringing the matter to the authorities.

If you kept the evidence in a safe place and then warn them (Director of Services, Director of Finances. Head of H.R. and The board of Trustees.) to stop or else.
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That won't work however, because you already told your union representative, and you now have a legal obligation to go forward.

Answer 2

Sadly, I'd have to say I think you should pursue it. I appreciate your real concerns about the repercussions, but it may not work out that way; possibly an outside administrator will be brought in to co-ordinate things while it is investigated.

I was in a comparable position some years ago where I discovered a (relatively small) fraud at a charity. It was unpleasant and difficult, but if I hadn't intervened then I think it's likely the scam would have spiralled, and the implications been far more serious. Possibly someone had the opportunity to do the same in your case and didn't, which is one reason why it's a much bigger deal now. It's in the nature of frauds to grow - if you don't act now, it may be worse still down the line.

I sympathise with your genuine dilemma, but I think there's one other factor weighing in favour of action. Chances are, at some point, this will come out. If you knew and didn't act, it's possible you may be tainted by association when it blows - and it will. So protect your own position too.

And the best of luck.

Answer 3

You need to balance the harm to the children with the wrong that's being done, and consider the good as well as the bad that would result from the public disclosure. Keeping the same care giver is nice, but are these relationships that vital to the children? Once-a-month is not that often, the kids live with their mums and dads, and so they have stable family relationships and the effect on them is likely to be minimal. The parents probably look forward to the respite care, but perhaps another agency will pick up the case load, and again, it's only one day per month.

Stealing money intended for disabled children by not providing the paid-for services is pretty low. You said this was going on for 13 years, and it's hard for me to believe that this agency did not cheat in other ways that you did not discover. People and organizations involved in fraud tend to get bolder and bolder with time.

Finally, you have to consider the legal consequences of not reporting them. Is there a duty to report? I have no idea, but even if a lawyer told you there was none, wouldn't you still worry? I would because I know that most legal issues are not cut and dried. If this agency is investigated for fraud and it's not the direct result of your tip, it's possible that you could be scapegoated by the agency and accused of taking money yourself. If you're licensed in your profession or a member of a professional society, you could be drummed out of it for an ethical lapse. For your defense, you couldn't even claim that you feared you'd lose your job if you told.

I'd report them right away based on the facts as I see them, but certainly there's a lot more to this. Good luck with whatever you do!

Edit: Tyler's mate is absolutely right - you can be tainted by association. I don't want to make my post too long, but this happened to me also.

Answer 4

Marfy,
You have to pursue and follow through with what you know about the fraud. If not, then the fraud will continue.
Don't fret, there are so many grants that the Local Agency can and will apply for. Most Agencies are automatically eligible and the children will benefit from them.

You need to discuss these issues and your concerns with the Local Social Services that you refer to.
Go to the Commissioner or Director of Social Services and explain what you know.
They are representing and serving the needs of the Children and will make the right decision. It's their duty !!
Furthermore, they will investigate and put a stop to the fraud. The Locals do not like controversy or exposure to the press---trust me on that one !!
Follow Your Heart !!!

I'm curious what your Union Rep's advice was ??

Let me know if I can be of help. Email me !!!

Answer 5

Wow! This is a big decision, but you know that you have to do the right thing. My aunt is involved in a case very similar. They are working on a settlement now. You must go forth with this. Somehow or another the children and families with be supported. Its unfortunate that they have to be the ones to suffer, but it is not your fault! These people cannot get away with that, they are the ones who should be ashamed of themselves. If you allow this to continue, nothing will change, money that is sup-post to be for the families is not going where it should! Stand up for the children! You will be glad that you did.. Good luck!

Answer 6

The only advice I can give here is to follow your mind and your heart. If it were me, I would turn them in. I would blow loud and clear. The reason I would is that from what you are saying, two or even three other organizations exactly like the one you are speaking about could open up, and care for more children, all with the same amount of money that this over-charging company is receiving.

Basically, do you want one over charging company to care for the children? Or Do you want 2 or 3 correctly charging companies to open up and care for 2 or 3 times the number of children?

I would opt for the latter.

I hope this helps.

Answer 7

Could you send an unsigned letter to them, and order that they stop this fraud immediately or you will turn all your evidence over to the highest authorities in social services? You can imply that you have informants inside their organization that will keep you updated about this matter, if they decide to continue.
You should be forgiven for a tiny well-intended fraud of your own, if it's done for the benefit of all the children involved.

Answer 8

Tough one, I think I would pursue it. Maybe when it all comes out in the wash the local government will see the need to keep it running and just oust the bad people. Those kids are not really being helped if the agency is using them for illegal gain.

Answer 9

You are making lots of assumptions about what will happen to services and clients if you take such actions as you describe. I have some experiences which suggest that your speculations about the consequences of any prosecution, if you are successful, are very unlikely to develop as you think they might. You may also find that you will not be successful in ways you imagine. There are consequences for you personally which you do not mention at all. I wonder if these unspoken concerns about what will happen to you and what you will do with the rest of your life are what really give you pause. You've chosen to run away so far as I interpret your behavior to present. You won't come through a fight unscathed. Maybe you should talk with someone about how this will affect the rest of YOUR life including the image you have of yourself. You'll be surprised at how well the others will come out of the conflict even if you're successful in the prosecution.

Answer 10

I know this is going to be hard but you must report your findings to the authorities and let them investigate what is going on. There may be some people involved that have
profited from this and they need to be brought down. These people are thieves and need to be treated as such. These people are defrauding all the folks who donate money to the them as well as stealing all the tax dollars they receive.