Fake Invoices = Major Losses?
Earlier this year an Auckland Council engineer stole around NZD 1.2m (£600k) through fake invoicing. The fraud only came to light as he prepared to leave his job, when checks uncovered money routed through fictitious subcontractors into his own accounts.
Just weeks before, I heard of another case where £200k disappeared from a construction project. The only reason it was caught was because a new team member noticed discrepancies in the budget.
These are not isolated events. Across the UK, councils have faced similar losses:
A City of London officer jailed for processing £670,000 of fake invoices.
An ex-employee in the Midlands diverting £1m in payments to himself.
A £38,000 fraud in Hammersmith & Fulham, uncovered only after anti-fraud teams reviewed invoices.
Why Fraud Slips Through?
Construction and maintenance fraud tends to follow familiar tactics: skimming percentages from real invoices, passing duplicates through overloaded systems, or submitting entirely fake ones. Emergency works add to the problem by forcing teams to bypass normal procurement checks.
The reality is councils process thousands of invoices a year. Manual checking is overwhelming, and fraud is often discovered only when audits dig deeper or budgets stop adding up.
The Real Cost.
Every pound stolen is a pound lost to housing upgrades, safer roads, or community services. The damage is not just financial but reputational. Taxpayers lose trust when they read about preventable fraud in the headlines.
A Smarter Approach
The irony is that councils already hold the data needed to spot fraud early. What is missing is visibility.
At Tolu Consulting, we built a system that uses existing records such as invoices, service logs, and contractor data to flag suspicious patterns. It means no new admin burden, no extra forms, and no disruptive processes. Just better use of the information already on file.
Here is what it delivers:
Duplicate or suspicious invoices flagged before payment.
Service records cross-checked to spot inflated or repeated claims
What happens if Nothing Changes?
Without stronger systems, frauds like these will keep surfacing, not just in New Zealand but in UK councils and beyond. Losses will mount, and finance teams will be left firefighting problems instead of preventing them.
Protecting Public Funds Without More Paperwork
Fraud does not need to be an accepted risk. Councils can protect budgets and rebuild public trust by making their existing records work harder.
If your council would like to see a sample report showing how invoice and servicing data can be turned into clear, fraud-resistant oversight, get in touch.
