The Guardian: U.K. foreign aid fraud investigations ‘quadruple in last five years’
“Fraud investigations involving foreign aid have quadrupled over five years as more public money is given to ‘fragile’ countries, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found. … In a report released on Thursday, the [National Audit Office (NAO)] said it was ‘particularly challenging’ to detect fraud in more than half of the spending of the Department for International Development (DfID) spend because the money was routed through other international organizations, such as the United Nations or World Bank. … Priti Patel, the international development secretary, said the rise in the number of inquiries has coincided with a more rigorous approach to fraud over the past three years…” (Syal, 2/8).