Milwaukee County audit office reports 114 fraud tips in 2024; five investigations opened

Jennifer Follier, director of audits for the Milwaukee County Office of the Comptroller, told the Milwaukee County Committee on Audit on April 7 that the office received 114 complaints or tips in 2024 and opened five new investigations last year.

Follier said the majority of contacts to the county's fraud hotline now come through a web-based reporting form rather than by phone, and that the audit division works closely with county departments, the district attorney's office, the sheriff's office and other law enforcement agencies to investigate allegations.

The report, titled "2024 annual report: fraud, waste and abuse investigations," shows tips in 2024 were generally in line with prior years and far below a 2021 outlier year when the office received 283 tips, 165 of which related to counterfeit county checks. "There's really no way to position an organization so that you will be guaranteed to never have fraud, waste, or abuse," Follier said, arguing that hotlines and controls help detect and limit losses.

Matthew Hart, the audit division's forensic manager, told the committee the county implemented industry safeguards after the 2021 counterfeit-check spike, including a positive-pay system and other controls coordinated between the comptroller and the treasurer. Hart said those measures, along with other process changes, helped stabilize the issue in 2022 and in subsequent years.

Of the five investigations opened in 2024, all were related to alleged personnel misconduct, Follier said; two remained active at year end. The office did not provide additional details about those cases during the meeting.

Follier also said that the hotline is able to refer non-county matters and callers who contact the office in error to appropriate agencies. She noted the hotline was established by a resolution adopted by the committee and is one tool that helps the county detect fraud more quickly than organizations without a hotline.

Supervisors thanked the audit office for its work and for the transition plan announced at the meeting: Hart is leaving the county after more than a decade and will begin a role in the Milwaukee Public Schools Office of Accountability and Efficiency; an auditor with prior hotline and investigative experience and a Certified Fraud Examiner credential will serve in the hotline role on an interim basis.

Committee members asked whether the audit office and the county ethics commission coordinate. Follier said the offices collaborate and refer matters between them as appropriate, but they are separate entities and the ethics commission follows chapter 9 of the county code. She added that the ethics commission does not investigate anonymous tips, while the audit hotline does.

The committee received the report as an informational item; no formal action or vote was recorded on the item during the meeting. The committee then moved on to a brief item noting e-comments submitted via the county legislative information center, and adjourned until its next scheduled meeting on May 12, 2025.