Fraud Reporting & Training Required

Every public employee and elected official of a political subdivision is required to complete the training. Refer to AOS Bulletin 2024-005 for more detail.

Yes, seasonal employees are required to complete the training upon initiating employment.

Yes, the training may be viewed in a group. The individual in charge of training should maintain a sign-in sheet (like this sample sign-in sheet) to document each person’s participation. Note, only the primary registrant's name will appear on the certificate of completion -- that’s fine, because the Fraud Reporting Form (located under the "Tools for Tracking" above) that each employee is required to fill out will be sufficient proof that that they have viewed the training video.

The group sign-in sheet should be maintained by the political subdivision for yearly AOS audit purposes.

Again, employers are required to keep a record of the fraud training completed by each employee, to be examined during audit.

New hires should complete the training within 30 days of their first day of employment.

Your employer is responsible for tracking training requirements. Failure by any employee to complete the training may result in noncompliance being reported during your entity’s next audit.

Fraud is criminal behavior where a person knowingly deceives another for their own benefit.

• Impersonating a government official to steal cash from a government cash collection point.
• Creating fictional invoices and using public funds to pay them to the benefit of yourself or a friend.
• Falsifying timesheets for the purpose of gaining additional compensation or leave time.
• Falsifying financial statements to cover up a redirecting of public money to a personal bank account.

Waste occurs when government resources are used inefficiently or unnecessarily, resulting in unnecessary costs to taxpayers.

• Local government purchases new computers for staff, fails to assign them, and allows them to sit in a warehouse for years until they are obsolete.

Abuse is behavior that is outside established business practices and standards, resulting in a loss to the government. Abuse also includes misuse of authority or position for personal gain or to improperly benefit a family member or business associate.

• Allowing unneeded overtime hours, requesting staff to perform personal errands or work tasks for a supervisor or manager, misusing an official position for personal gain.

The AOS has issued AOS Bulletin 2024-005 defining Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in more detail.

There are several ways to report Fraud, Waste, or Abuse of public dollars.

This information also can be found at ohioauditor.gov/fraud/report-fraud.html

AOS online training can be found here: Fraud Training

Upon successful completion, click “View Certificate” to save or print your certificate. Your employer should maintain certificates for AOS audit purposes.

You can retrieve your certificate by logging back into the training module and selecting “Already Registered” to retrieve your certificate.

A single report to AOS on behalf of the group is acceptable.

AOS prefers that fraud reports provide the individual’s contact information so that we can follow up with the person filing the report; however, yes, anonymous reports may be filed with AOS.

Government employees who reasonably believe, and in good faith report, suspected fraud to the AOS are entitled to certain protections against employer retaliation. Ohio Rev. Code (ORC) § 124.341 extends whistleblower protections to classified and unclassified employees who file a complaint with the AOS’s fraud-reporting system. If retaliatory or disciplinary action is taken against the employee, the employee has the right to appeal with the State Personnel Board of Review within thirty (30) days after receiving actual notice of the employment action. Additional whistleblower protections are provided to state and local public officials and employees under ORC § 4113.52.

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