Fraud undermines project budgets, compromises the quality and safety of structures, and damages the reputation of construction professionals. The global nature of construction projects, coupled with technological advances and regulatory complexities, necessitates a collaborative effort to educate stakeholders on fraud prevention, legal compliance, and ethical practices.
Most countries have a criminal offence of fraud. In the UK, a new offence has been implemented of “failure to prevent” fraud under which an organisation will be liable where a fraud offence is committed by an employee or agent, for the organisation’s benefit, and the organisation did not have reasonable fraud prevention procedures in place.
The webinar will look at examples of fraud on construction projects, and the potential loss and liability which can result. For example, in what circumstances could the following common actions be seen as fraudulent:
- add a “negotiating margin” to a claim
- withhold adverse information or documentation from a claim submission
- provide reasons for a variation or extension of time which are wholly or partly unjustified
- adjust timesheets and programmes so as to be consistent with a desired claim outcome
- withhold payment from a contractor or sub-contractor without valid justification
- conceal defects
- provide incorrect quality or quantity?
Neill Stansbury, Co-founder and Director of the Global Infrastructure Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC) will be presenting this webinar. He is a construction lawyer who has worked for over 40 years in the international infrastructure sector. He was Chairman of the International Organization for Standardization Anti-Bribery Project Committee which published ISO 37001, Chairman of British Standards Institution Anti-Bribery Working Group which published BS 10500, and Vice Chairman of the World Federation of Engineering Organisation’s Anti-Corruption Standing Committee. He was independent anti-corruption compliance monitor of Balfour Beatty, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Mabey Bridge. He has given anti-corruption presentations and workshops in over 40 countries.