The Voluntary Sector Fiefdoms:
The Scams in the community and Voluntary
Sector Exposed.
This is going to
be a series of writings outlining in detail how the enrichment scams operate in
favour of the People at the top of these organisations.
Many community
and voluntary organisations are not charities. So all these issues should be
applied to all community and voluntary organisations, and not just to those that
are charities.
In essence they
all operate in the same way and are supposedly governed by the same rules. The
only difference with a registered charity is that they have one extra layer of
bureaucracy to fill i.e. The Charity Regulator.
This post is a
list of the scams I know about. In later posts I will describe exactly how they
work.
The title: CEO / Manager / Co-Ordinator / Supervisor. The
titles are irrelevant. They are the employees (and sometimes volunteers)
operating at the top of the chain in the line management of the organisation.
The Scammers bring shame on the very many volunteers that run community organisations all over the country. They deserve to be named and shamed and in many cases they deserve to be jailed.
Terms and conditions of employment: Are
written, by the employee, for the benefit of the employee, and not applied to
the employees lower down the line in the organisation.
Expenses paid for dubious reasons. i.e.
Claiming for travel using their own car, but actually using the bus or train.
Items purchased in
the name of the organisation, but are really for the use of the employee for
purposes other than the organisation requires. i.e. Buys a new Ipad for business use, but carries
it around for personal use.
Credit Cards: There might be a limit
set for the controller of the card. This then allows the user to buy anything
without recourse to the board members.
Conflict of interest: e.g. allowing friends
of the employee to avail of the goods and services that are meant to be given
to certain people. E.g. A credit union employee giving a loan to a friend even
though the friend cannot possibly repay the loan.
Getting their friends / relations to carry
out work on behalf of the organisation. The work is done and the bill is
paid, more often before the board have approved this spending. No other quotes
are obtained and no real competition for the work is provided. One has to
conclude the employees is somehow benefitting personally. E.g. An employee’s
brother carried out work for an organisation, and was paid in full before the
work was finished (just in time for the whole family to travel to Canada for
their brother’s wedding). An engineer’s report at the end of the work concluded
the work was substandard and another registered builder had to be employed to
rectify the faults. When board members complained, the employee only referred
to the original worker by the name of the company, but never disclosed the
principle was his brother.
Board members expenses: Can include the
cost of travelling by taxi to and from a meeting, usually in a luxury hotel
with a golf course attached. Meeting is followed by a luxury dinner including
bottles of wine, and then a nights drinking in the bar, followed by a taxi
home. This is usually described in the accounts as Management Expenses incurred
in the role of management. Basically some board members get a full day out, a
game of golf, a fancy dinner, and a nights drinking, followed by a taxi home.
Travel Expenses: Usually provided only
to those in the inner circle for travelling to and from meetings. Those outside
of the inner circle never get this. It is usually just called travel expenses
in the accounts. It is lumped in with all other legitimate travel expenses and
a query will be followed up with “it covers all the staff travel expenses”.
Insurance: Some board members and
senior staff members are insured by the organisation for various reasons. Again
never applied to those outside of the inner circle, but can cost a lot of money
and has benefits for those that are covered.
Training: Is paid for because someone
in the inner circle decides it COULD be relevant to the work of the
organisation. No real analysis is carried out and nobody queries the reason for
training. Usually enhances an employee’s employ-ability and will usually be
followed up with a request for more pay as a result of the training having been
successfully completed. In an employee’s case, the training will take place
during normal working hours, is paid for by the organisation, and the persons
expenses for travel, lunch, dinner will also be paid. In other words they
enhance their personal qualifications, using the time and money of the
organisation. In the case of a volunteer, the cost of the training is paid in
full and any expenses incurred will be handsomely paid by the organisation.
This training will usually move the volunteer up the management ladder and in
line with the opportunity to secure a fully paid position within the
organisation.
Confusing the issues: Board members
will agree certain signatories to certain issues i.e. the bank accounts. Three
people are appointed, but, two are experienced and one is inexperienced on the
basis that this will keep the other two honest. In reality the inexperienced
person gets asked by the employee to sign everything on the basis the other two
are busy. If the issue is disputed, then the experienced people will argue that
the inexperienced person made a mistake “in good faith”. In reality this is the
biggest abuse of power that involves divide and conquer that will serve the
Fiefdom.
This is just a
few of the scams I know about. I will add to this over time. I will explain how
they operate in reality over the next few posts.
The state regulators: In many cases the state are aware of the scams, but choose to do nothing. In many cases the state can cause the issue to get worse and will never support any board member that dares to challenge the status quo. The regulators are supposed to be independent, but it they always have an agenda. I will come back to the states role in these scams, and the auditors role, and the solicitors role also.
Nobody that is scamming voluntary groups in Ireland will be protected by the time I am finished exposing all the scams.
You will hear those in authority saying they have no evidence. That is not true. The evidence is there if they want to go and get it.
