Fraud training: simple techniques, but a lack of controls

Fake lists of actual voters, over billing... The State and the Opca do not fight enough against the fraudsters, tackle the Court of auditors in a report issued on 8 February. Billions of euros are in the game.

vocational training costs, each year more than 11 billion euros to businesses. A considerable sum, which exposes it heavily to scams, is the Court of auditors in the chapter on "the continuing vocational training of employees: to build a policy of control and fight against fraud", published on 8 February.

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Fake lists of actual voters, over-billing, increase in the number of hours worked... "processes for fraud employees cannot be characterised by any particular complexity", stresses the report. In the viewfinder of the cheats: OFWS who are unfamiliar with the market of training and internships paid directly by the Opca (joint Body authorized collector - through the device of subrogation, according to which the financer directly regulates the body).

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scams simple, but difficult to defeat

"The unit amounts are low, but can wear on a significant number of courses. The checks are performed a posteriori, updating, manipulation is difficult," point out the authors. More rare, sophisticated structuring of diversion has recently seen the light of day, with large sums at stake.

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The multitude of actors makes the challenge of tackling complex, stresses the Court of auditors. The number of service providers is not only high (they were 76 551 in 2014), but it is growing exponentially. "Approximately 9,000 new organizations accessing the market each year. A third of the providers have less than three years of activity." The approach to create an organism is in fact easy: there is no certified to practice, but a simple statement of activity. "The form filled in by the service providers is limited to the collection of summary information on the identity, the status and the activity of the declarant, complain to the authors. Save with express refusal of registration by the State services, applicants are assigned a registration number which allows them to deliver training and to be funded under this title." The journalists of the"program Cash Investigation had managed to get the precious sesame with a program that includes exercises "Air Guitar" and a "race in a potato sack". Once the number is obtained, the bonds are reduced.

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But it was not only the organizations that can steal money, says the report, examples: companies and Opca can also be involved. An employer has recruited a person into a professional contract without being given the training-house to which it has received funding. A company is acoquinée with a provider and set up the training dummy to get taken care of internships that do not take place. Amount diverted: 143 000 euros. A few years ago, a director of Opca was also mounted folders fictitious, having been the subject of transfer to his benefit, as well as to that of a company of which he was also the manager. He pocketed € 575 000.

control services is under-staffed chronic

in the Face of this multitude of risks, how the struggle is organised? Wrong, according to the Court of auditors, which deplores the"lack of vision" State, its "lack of steering" and a "bad distribution of resources,"... The sums involved seem huge, but the services of the State are now unable to "assess the magnitude of the fraud" and that "the sanctions are poorly implemented due to the cumbersome procedures," said the rue Cambon.

152 agents (only) are assigned to the control training. How to do it with so few people on the ground? The report also points to "the context of major crisis that people live today, these regional inspection services [...] that are struggling to recruit agents, the formation of which is adapted to" so many retirements are looming. Worse, their tools seem to be outdated: the information system is "light operational" and "fail in the field of data processing relating to the fraud."

sanctions rare

Consequences: the controls are too infrequent: "less than 1% of the providers likely to be controlled have been in 2014". This has led to a dozen penalties only "although a large number of controls to be carried out from the presumptions of fraud arising out of reports, including from Opca."

These last are not enough, according to the report, which has reviewed the practices of nine of them. There is helter-skelter the following grievances: "little funds", "on the spot checks are few", the "spot checks non-existent", "not true approach to risk analysis"...

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in the Face of these facts speak for themselves, that of the Court of accounts? It is nothing new. "Even if he does not fight fully against fraud (overbilling hours...), the decree of 30 June 2015 on the quality of training opens the way" to a better seo organizations, says the Court.

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It calls for the State to work hand in hand with training organizations, but also to control them more... what to change? Not so sure. "When we discover a body crooked, you can't denounce it in public, as long as justice is not passed, defended the adviser of an Opca. What we can do is communicate better with our colleagues [...] And to conclude a bit scathing: "For the moment, it is undergoing an enormous pressure to the State... to get 500,000 people in training." At all costs.