By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Sharp-eyed citizens who think they see fraud, waste and abuse by county employees or county officials can now access a form and leave an anonymous tip to report their findings.
County commissioners court members heard a presentation on the new fraud, waste and abuse tip system during their meeting on Monday.
County Auditor Matt Weingardt introduced the item, telling the court that Aaron Cash, an internal auditor in his office, suggested and organized the tip system.
Cash told the court, “We made (this) for people to report fraud, waste and abuse. It has the option for people to report to remain anonymous.”
Cash explained the tip system and why he believes it’s important for the county to have one.
“According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ ‘2024 A Report to the Nations,’ they found that 43 percent of all fraud was uncovered through tips and of that, the two most popular mechanisms were a web-based submission form and an email, and by creating this, we’ve accomplished both of those,” Cash said.
Cash said the county’s new fraud, waste and abuse tip system could be found on the county’s auditor’s page of the county’s web site.
“There’s a QR code, which can be scanned, or you can also just click the box, and it will take you straight to the form,” Cash said.
Citizens can also use this direct link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/arqu2jg64M
Citizens can also email tips directly to the following email address: Tips@valverdecounty.texas.gov
Cash noted the email option is not anonymous, as it will include the email sender’s address.
Cash reviewed the form a citizen would be asked to fill out, which includes a series of 15 questions.
“You don’t have to answer every question. The only question that’s required is question number one, which is basically going over the limitations, and what the thing is and whether you understand, yes or no,” Cash said.
Cash said of the remaining questions on the form, “You can add as much or as little information as you want.”
“Obviously, the more information the better for uncovering or trying to investigate what’s going on,” he added.
Cash said if criminal offenses are reported on the tip line, those tips will be turned over to the appropriate law enforcement authority.
“But if it’s something internal that we can investigate, we will do that ourselves,” he said.
Following his presentation, Cash asked if members of the court had any questions, and County Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez asked, “So is this just internal, for Val Verde County, or is it for people out in the community, constituents?”
Cash said the tip line could be used by anyone.
County Commissioner Pct. 1 Kerr Wardlaw noted, “Folks that I’ve talked to don’t know the difference between what the city’s responsibilities and the county’s responsibilities, so if somebody calls in and says something about the city or the state, what are you all going to do with that information?”
“I would think we would forward it to the proper people who could handle that,” Cash replied.
“It’ll happen,” Wardlaw promised.
Vazquez followed up on Wardlaw’s question, asking County Attorney David Martinez if that was the proper sequence of events to be followed, should complaints be received about city or state issues.
Martinez replied, “At the end of the day, it is not the county’s responsibility to police the city or the school (district) or anybody else, so if the auditor’s office wants to forward that information to that entity, they could, but that’s not the purpose of the tip line.”
Cash also said the auditor’s tip page on the county’s web site has a QR code for citizens to click and access the complaint/tip form, but he cautioned against printing out the code and displaying it, as it can be tampered with.
“The way to keep the QR code authentic is keeping it on the actual web site,” Cash added.
Once the presentation was complete, County Judge Lewis Owens Jr. thanked Cash and joked, “I hope you have nobody that submits anything.”
The court took no action following the presentation.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
