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Whistleblower: I questioned faked timesheet claim for cash
Tribunal told of ‘fraudulent’ funding bid
CAMDEN Town Hall chiefs made fraudulent claims to pull in thousands of pounds in “undeserved” government funding, a council whistleblower has claimed at an employment tribunal.
Noorjahan Begum told the hearing in Holborn she had been ousted from her job in the council’s economic development team after complaining to bosses about “exaggerated or fake” invoices for projects funded by the London Development Agency (LDA) through Islington Council.
Miss Begum, representing herself, said senior managers had made claims on her behalf for hours and work she had never done between January and March 2008.
The “untoward” invoices – allegedly claiming more than three times the hours Miss Begum had actually worked – were part of a series of “massive claims” made by Camden for millions of pounds a year from the LDA pot, according to the sacked finance officer.
“I questioned the legitimacy of the claim in May,” said Miss Begum. “I’m the only person doing the work. I would know.
“They faked my timesheet. I did not agree with it [and] I refused to allow my name to be associated with fraudulent claims made to the LDA.”
The King’s Cross Finsbury Park Area Programme projects over 2007-08 and 2008-09 amounted to a total value of about £9.5million and were managed jointly by Camden and Islington councils. Islington Council, which holds the contract with LDA and subcontracts to Camden, received the claim three times under three different costings.
It was twice queried by Janet Dixon, contract and performance manager at Islington on behalf of LDA, saying LDA was “uncomfortable” with the “low” standard of evidence and receipts in the council’s claims.
A third version was then sent by Camden bosses with Miss Begum’s contested timesheet of hours worked. The claim was eventually accepted and paid.
Sandi Phillips, acting head of labour market and economy at Camden, told the hearing that she was “confident there was no financial irregularity” in the claims and that the issue had arisen due to Miss Begum’s “inability to understand the complex duties of her role”.
“The programme cut across a number of different areas – it was never going to be clear cut how many hours [Miss Begum] had worked,” Ms Phillips added.
She said the decision taken in June not to renew Miss Begum’s contract was made because of “financial necessity” and that she had only ever been employed on a temporary basis.
Miss Begum was made the subject of an internal investigation in August after she allegedly entered the town hall and unofficially accessed Camden’s computers in a “critical breach of security”.
Miss Begum, who now works in the council’s early years and Sure Start learning department, claimed she had gone to her former office to pick up her belongings and had checked her emails while she was there.
She said the investigation was an attempt by Ms Phillips, her former boss, to “sabotage” her new job at the council.
Ms Phillips said: “The investigation was not prompted in any way by Miss Begum blowing the whistle.”
The hearing continues. |
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