There is always the risk that employees in the position to select and chose suppliers will abuse their position. Organisations need to know that suppliers are being selected on their merits and nothing else.
The problem
Our client, a large industrial firm, approached us with a serious problem. One of their suppliers had tipped them off that a senior procurement manager was demanding payoffs for placing orders with them. The manager in question had insisted that the supplier only communicat with him over his private mobile phone, so where would we find evidence?
The solution
We discreetly took a copy of the individual’s workstation computer. On it we found large numbers of web-browsing remnants recording visits to the individual’s e-banking and share trading accounts. These records covered months of activity on the accounts. We were able to show that the individual was in regular receipt of payments from a number of expatriate bank accounts. We were also able to show that the individual was the owner of a substantial share portfolio, far beyond what he could realistically have accumulated from his normal salary.
The individual was approached by our client and asked to explain the transactions found on his computer, but refused to do so. A number of the payments were traced back to suppliers and found to be highly questionable. The individual was dismissed, and our clients are currently considering further legal action against him.