PRESS RELEASE
Dublin, 2nd November 2011
Acertum welcomes announcement by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office of a new confidential online whistleblower service and asks about Ireland’s hesitant record at encouraging whistleblowers online.
ACERTUM, a Dublin based anti-corruption service provider today welcomed the UK’s introduction of a confidential online service for the reporting of serious fraud. The UK’s Serious Fraud Office announced that the service goes live this week and encouraged people to come forward and report fraud or
corruption going on in their workplaces.
Speaking following the SFO’s announcement, Acertum Ireland Ltd.’s managing director, Denis Madden welcomed the new service and urged similar services to be provided to whistleblowers in the Republic of Ireland. The BusinessKeeper™ online whistleblowing solution that Acertum provides is in use by police forces in other jurisdictions for several years to detect fraud. It is also now in use with national anti-fraud agencies and leading banks and telecom operators.
Denis Madden said, “The announcement by the Serious Fraud Office in the UK’s shows the type of practical steps that can be taken to improve both the detection and deterrence of fraud within organisations. Ireland’s reputation is at further risk if decisive steps are not taken to tackle fraud within our corporations and public sector. The example of the UK SFO’s introduction this week of a secure online whistleblower service is in contrast to the hesitancy in the Republic of Ireland to adopt technical or legislative protection of whistleblowers.”
“The Garda Bureau for Fraud and Investigation, and the Central Bank of Ireland have unfortunately have not yet been equipped with a secure online confidential reporting system, and Irish whistleblowers do not have the protection of legislation as comprehensive as the UK’s Public Interest Disclosure Act. A secure online system that protects the identity of the whistleblower would encourage disclosures and at least in part compensate for the legislative deficit. When you compare the reporting channels on offer to Irish whistleblowers, the provisions in Ireland are clearly not keeping up with international best practice and how people communicate today,” said Denis Madden.
In a message to potential UK whistleblowers, Serious Fraud Office Director Richard Alderman said, "I want people to come forward and tell us if they think there is fraud or corruption going on in their workplace. Company executives, staff, professional advisors, business associates of various kinds or trade competitors can talk to us in confidence. I have set up a special team to make the SFO readily accessible to whistleblowers, with trained staff sympathetic in dealing with any anxieties people might have about coming forward. I want whistleblowers to feel comfortable about it and use SFO Confidential to help flush out fraud."
Commenting, Denis Madden said, “A similar development in Ireland would give confidence to Irish business and the general public that concrete steps are being taken to tackle fraud. The online whistleblower facility we are talking about here is a proven effective measure that is relatively simple to implement and should save public and private monies. We have recently witnessed a disturbing Ponzi scheme within an Irish regulated investment company. Any steps that allow employees to report misconduct and concerns should be encouraged.”
“Acertum introduced their secure Whistleblower solution in November 2010 to the Irish market. Frankly we have been surprised at the lack of interest in new disclosure methods and the hesitancy in evaluating and adopting these new fraud countermeasures. The system allows, for example, corporate bodies; utilities; government agencies; regulators and enforcement agencies to provide a channel to employees and the public to report their concerns regarding fraud or malpractice. We expected that there would have been much more interest for such anti-fraud measures”, said Denis Madden.
PRESS RELEASE
Dublin, 25th November 2010
Germany’s leading anti-corruption and whistleblower service provider announces entry to Ireland with ACERTUM Ltd.
ACERTUM, an anti-corruption service provider today announced the start of its operations in Ireland. To mark the commencement of its activities, ACERTUM held a briefing in Dublin for organisations in the financial services and insurance industry; law enforcement; and the Irish semi-state sector. ACERTUM will provide Irish private and public organisations with their own centrally hosted, secure, online whistle-blowing service. ACERTUM has partnered with Berlin based Business Keeper AG to provide the service in Ireland.
According to Denis Madden, Acertum’s managing director, Business Keeper AG is the leading, secure, online whistleblower service provider worldwide. The technology was developed over 10 years in Germany and has been deployed in Asia and Europe. The secure online whistleblower service protects the identity of the person willing to speak-up and report on wrong doing or fraud. Confidential, and if preferred anonymous, communication is facilitated between the party reporting and the examiner dealing with the report.
Speaking at the Dublin briefing, to mark the launch in Ireland of the new venture, Kai Leisering, Executive Board Member of Business Keeper AG said, “ that The Business Keeper system was developed in Germany for corporations, police forces and public authorities. It is in use today with major banks such as Commerzbank AG; public and private corporations, including Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Bahn, Bertelsmann and M.A.N. German state police forces have also adopted the system to tackle crime. We are delighted now to partner with Acertum to bring the service to Irish organisations”.
Acertum’s managing director Denis Madden described the Business Keeper service as “an innovative way of providing a service 24/7 in a cost efficient and highly secure manner. People are becoming much more familiar with web-based form filling, and feel more comfortable communicating online. Secure online whistleblowing is just another channel to report concerns. Just as text messaging, Skype, Twitter have changed how we communicate, online whistleblowing will become the norm.”
“We have founded Acertum in Ireland in difficult recessionary times. However, we believe that there is an even stronger demand now at all levels to tackle white collar crime in Ireland. The Business Keeper system does this, both by encouraging whistleblowing and acting as a deterrent to fraud.” added Denis Madden.
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