Immigration gets its own dishonesty investigator

By AUDREY YOUNG

The Immigration Service has hired its own internal investigator to handle inquiries into allegations of staff dishonesty.

The appointment was noted in a select committee report released yesterday which expressed concern at allegations of "fraud and dishonest practices by representatives of the Immigration Service", which employs about 800 people.

In the last financial year, the department initiated 94 investigations into staff dishonesty, said the report of the finance and expenditure committee on Vote Immigration.

Of the 64 investigations finalised so far, 13 found evidence of dishonesty. Of those, 11 resulted in termination of employment or disciplinary action, and 10 were referred to the police for prosecution.

The report said that a further eight investigations resulted in the termination of employment or disciplinary action for activities other than dishonest.

The report said that as well as hiring an investigator, it was training its staff in ethical behaviour and a code of conduct.

"Consideration is being given to require that staff sign up to the code of conduct on a 12-monthly basis," an immigration spokeswoman said.