Oh what a tangled web we weave… what happens when you can’t trust anyone?
Of all the government agencies to steal from, the National Security Agency would probably be the last one on my list. If just half of what the media says they can do is true, surely, they have the capability to uncover a fraud perpetrated by a vendor.
Yet, Bechdon which made metal and plastic parts for the NSA, successfully defraud the agency over a ten year period. The father son team of William and Donald Turley overbilled the agency for hours that their company never worked. As an aside, I am curious as to why the NSA would pay for parts produced by the hour and not on a fixed price basis, but I suppose we’ll never know the reasoning behind that decision.
The father son duo both confessed to the fraud during clearance interviews as part of the process for bidding on sensitive NSA contracts. Surprisingly, they confessions came over a year apart. William Turley confessed in March 2006, and Donald the following year in April (Why it took the NSA more than a year to complete the second interview is anyone’s guess).
Now for the twist that all good stories involving the NSA should have… Enter Christina Turley Knott, William Turley’s daughter and Donald Turley’s sister…
Christina is by far the more accomplished fraudster. She managed to embezzle $4.5 million from Bechdon without the knowledge of her father or brother! Presumably, while the father and son were busy bilking the NSA, they didn’t pay attention to the fraud happening beneath their noses. Christina will be sentenced shortly for her fraud, but initially the family declined to turn her in as they feared she would disclose the NSA overbilling scheme.
The moral of the story? Don’t expect your employees to act in an ethical manner if they see your company’s leadership defrauding others. The “tone at the top” is often thrown around as important to preventing fraud. In this case we can see what happens when owners or senior executives abandon their ethics at the front door. There is no honor among thieves, especially when there are millions up for grabs. Just ask the Turleys…
Need a writer that understands fraud? When you hire me to write an article, blog post, newsletter or white paper you get an accomplished writer that is also an expert in fraud.
paul@mccormackwrites.com