Internal Audtiors' Role in Finding Corruption

Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) executives are accused of having engaged in corruption by paying $8 million in bribes in 2003 to win a contract with the Russian general prosecutor's office. Ironically, this is the authority whose responsibility it is to fight corruption in Russia. German and Russian authorities are looking into whether suspected bribes were funneled through a network of shell companies and bank accounts in places including Britain, Austria, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands, Belize, New Zealand, the Baltic nations of Latvia and Lithuania, and Delaware and Wyoming in the US. This article defines corruption, reviews what happened at HP, looks at the internal auditors' responsibility for finding corruption, summarizes what some internal auditors are doing today to find corruption in their companies, and then suggests procedures that should be practiced by internal auditors in high-risk areas for corruption