Will increase transparency, help identify financial fraud, waste and abuse

Knoxville, Tenn. — Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett and Audit Committee Chairman Dr. Joe Carcello announced Thursday the implementation of the Knox County Fraud and Compliance Hotline, also known as the “Audit Hotline.”

The hotline is a tool that can be used by citizens and employees alike to identify and report financially fraudulent, wasteful or abusive practices within any aspect of Knox County Government. Citizens can also file reports online.

“This hotline will drastically increase the level of transparency and accountability in county government, and that’s something our citizens deserve,” Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett said. “Audit Committee Chairman Dr. Joe Carcello, as well as the rest of the audit committee members, worked hard to see that this became a reality.”

“We’re setting up this hotline system to provide better oversight over county activities, and its ultimate success will depend on the willingness of employees, vendors and citizens to report credible information about fraud, waste and abuse in a timely manner,” Dr. Carcello said.

The Knox County Audit Committed contracted with Global Compliance, an independent third-party vendor, to provide the hotline services. When a report is filed, Global Compliance takes the information and generates a report that will be sent to the Knox County Risk Management Department. Risk Management will then determine which department head or elected official the complaint should go to, and direct it to that person, as well as to the Knox County Audit Committee. Any complaints that are criminal in nature would be directed to the Audit Committee, the appropriate department head or elected official, and to proper law enforcement agency.

“In the private sector, tips to this sort of hotline tend to be the most effective way to detect fraud, waste and abuse, and I’m confident that will also be the case here in Knox County,” Dr. Carcello said. “Any audit committee is only as effective as the information it gets, and this hotline offers the potential for better information, which will hopefully help us be a more effective committee.”

“Our goal is to make Knox County Government better, more efficient and more accountable to our taxpayers,” Mayor Burchett said. “We’re going to continue working to restore public trust.”

Anyone needing to report fraud, waste or abuse within any Knox County department or agency should call the hotline at 1-866-858-4443 (toll-free) or visit https://knoxcounty.alertline.com.

More information about Global Compliance can be found at http://www.globalcompliance.com.

More information about Dr. Carcello can be found at
http://acct.bus.utk.edu/profiles/faculty/carcello.htm.