ADB increases anti-corruption actions

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) Office of Anti-corruption and Integrity (OAI) received a record of 250 complaints of corruption in 2013, up from 240 in 2012. It said most of these came from external stakeholders.

OAI head, Clare Wee said, “Fraud related to work experience, qualifications, and technical and financial capacities of consulting firms or consultants continues to be the most common type of integrity violation reported to OAI.”

The OAI investigated 239 cases in 2013 and closed 76. There were sanctions against 30 individuals and 30 companies, and as part of an agreement between ADB and four other multilateral development banks, some 324 entities were cross-debarred from ADB work due to wrongdoing on projects funded by other banks.

The number of sanctions levied by the ADB was down on 2012, when it took action against 42 companies and 38 individuals. However, the number of cross-debarments was up sharply; in 2012, the ADB cross-debarred only 108 individuals and companies.

Last year also saw the ADB increase its work on Project Procurement-Related Reviews (PPRRs), which are a series of initiatives to inspect project outcomes, internal controls, irregularities and non-compliance. The ADB says such schemes can mitigate against the risks of fraud and corruption, and protect project funds from improper use. It conducted seven PPRRs in 2013.