The Ventura County Auditor-Controller's Office established the Employee Fraud Hotline with the approval of the Board of Supervisors in 2001.

Purpose

The Employee Fraud Hotline provides Ventura County employees and citizens with a way to report possible incidents of fraud, waste, and abuse in Ventura County government.

Hotlines such as this are used by businesses and governmental agencies throughout the country and have proven effective as a fraud prevention and detection device.

Employees are encouraged to resolve concerns through their normal administrative channels whenever possible. However, the Employee Fraud Hotline provides an alternative reporting mechanism to ensure that concerns about possible wrongdoing in Ventura County government are properly addressed.

How to Contact the Hotline

County employees and citizens can call the Hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at:

(805) 644-6019

Hotline operators are available to answer the Hotline telephone between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. When Hotline operators are not available, messages can be left as voice mail, and your call will be retrieved as soon as possible. You may choose to remain anonymous.

The Hotline can also be reached via e-mail at Fraud.Hotline@ventura.org (please note that e-mail is not confidential), and by regular mail at:

Employee Fraud Hotline

Ventura County Auditor-Controller

800 South Victoria Avenue

Ventura, CA  93009-1540

What to Report

The employee Fraud Hotline is intended for reporting indications of fraud; misuse of County resources by County employees, vendors, or contractors; and significant violations of County policy. Examples of reportable offenses include:

How Complaints are Handled

All complaints are logged and assigned a tracking number. You may refer to this tracking number to identify your particular complaint in the event you wish to check on the status. Please keep in mind that we are not able to release information on investigations still in progress.

If sufficient information exists to pursue a complaint, the Auditor-Controller's Office determines whether to take action to resolve the issue or whether to refer the matter to other County agencies/departments. The Auditor-Controller's Office will evaluate the investigation results for completeness and reasonableness before considering the issue closed.  

Reporting of Results

Twice a year, we report the Hotline results to the Board of Supervisors and publish the Employee Fraud Hotline Report. The Report summarizes Hotline activity and significant statistics for a 6-month period. The Report also includes a description of the complaints that were substantiated and the corrective action taken.