How can government innovators best tackle fraud against the public purse?
Governments worldwide lose significant sums each year to fraud, placing pressure on public finances and eroding trust in public services.
To help tackle this threat, many public bodies are now re-examining how they manage payments and strengthen oversight, recognising that fragmented processes can create vulnerabilities.
As agencies look for more coordinated approaches, there is growing momentum to modernise fraud prevention, improve detection within and across programmes, and ensure public funds reach the people and services they are intended to support.
This session explored what is needed to make progress on tackling fraud across the public sector. Together, we examined:
- How the fraud threat against the government is evolving, and how governments can understand the changes.
- How government should respond to help tackle the problem, with insight on best practice from around the world.
- Insights on how the public sector and private sector can work together using technology to tackle fraud.
Panel
Wendy Saschenbrecker-Tang, Director, External Fraud Risk Management Division, Canada Revenue Agency
A public servant since 2003 and prior to her current role, Wendy was Director of Enterprise Risk Management within CRA where she oversaw the publication of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) paper on Managing Reputational Risk and co‑authored a chapter entitled Creating a Risk-Aware Culture in an academic textbook.
Wendy has won numerous CRA Awards of Excellence – Category Partnership and was the recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal for public service. She holds an Honour’s Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Ottawa and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from McGill University. Wendy represented Canada as an athlete at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in fencing.
Fara Damelin, Inspector General, Federal Communications Commission, United States
Fara Damelin serves as the Inspector General (IG) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an independent office responsible for preventing and detecting fraud, waste, and abuse related to FCC’s programs. She oversees a dedicated team of professionals who expertly conduct oversight to meet FCC OIG’s mission.
Before her appointment as FCC IG, Ms. Damelin gained extensive experience in the IG community, including serving as Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development OIG, Deputy Inspector General for AmeriCorps OIG, and investigative attorney and Director for the National Science Foundation OIG, where she conducted investigations involving grant fraud and research misconduct.
Rick Teng, Head, Office of Compliance, Singapore Health Services
Rick Teng is Head of the Office of Compliance at SingHealth, a role he assumed in November 2024. With a decade of experience in Singapore’s public healthcare sector, Rick spent eight of those years at MOH Holdings (MOHH) Group Internal Audit, where he rose to Deputy Director and Senior Lead Specialist, leading both the Forensic and Data Analytics Units. Prior to public healthcare, Rick built a strong cross-sector foundation in audit and risk management through roles at KPMG, Grant Thornton, DHL, HEINEKEN, and Global Fashion Group, accumulating audit experience across countries spanning Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. Rick is passionate about leveraging data analytics for fraud prevention and governance. He holds an Executive MBA and a Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) from Nanyang Technological University, and is a qualified CA, CIA, CFE, and CISA.
Fabio Menis, Fraud and AML Expert, SAS Italy
Fabio is an experienced Business Developer and Management Consultant, who has blended two different domains across his 30-years of transformation management consulting and counter-fraud solution implementation experience. He has led and implemented large business transformation projects in challenging environments across different industries. Fabio has also acquired a significant knowledge and experience in Fraud & Error in Public Sector across Europe. He is based in Italy.
Webinar chair: Siobhan Benita, Moderator, Global Government Forum
Siobhan was a senior civil servant in the UK with more than 15 years’ Whitehall experience. She worked in many of major delivery departments, including Transport, Environment, Health and Local Government. She also had senior roles at the heart of government in the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, including supporting the then Cabinet Secretary, Lord O’Donnell, to lead work on civil service reform and strategy. Siobhan left to run as an independent candidate in the Mayor of London election. She subsequently joined her alma mater, Warwick University, as Chief Strategy Officer of Warwick in London and Co-Director of the Warwick Policy Lab
