The lack of complete or appropriate supporting documentation is a potential indicator of many different schemes, but most directly of false, inflated or duplicate invoices and the failure to meet contract specifications. Be alert for:
- Unexplained or excessive delays in producing supporting documents that should be readily available;
- Discrepancies in the documentation, for example, between the amounts claimed for payment and the amounts in the supporting documents, or between documents submitted by the contractor and independent test or inspection results;
- The submission of copies when originals are required or more appropriate;
- Indications of changes to documents, such as backdating, erasures, white outs or apparently forged signatures;
- Incomplete documentation, for example, invoices with only a post office or mail drop address;
- Unusual or inappropriate documents, e.g., unnumbered or handwritten invoices, or invoices that are clean and unfolded, indicating that they might not have been mailed and were submitted directly by an employee.
This red flag can indicate the following schemes:
- False, inflated or duplicate invoices
- Failure to meet contract specifications
- Product substitution
- False statements and claims
Click on the schemes listed above to see more information on each scheme, a more complete listing of their red flags and steps to determine if the schemes are actually present.