One of Great Britain's greatest unions had a “generalized fraud environment”, has concluded a leaked auditors report.
The Global BDO fiscal advice firm discovered that there had been a unite culture that “does not challenge the suitability of transactions” and failed to guarantee adequate financial information.
He concluded “dominant personalities and a weak control environment facilitated the opportunities to commit fraud” in the union.
The audit was ordered by the general secretary Sharon Graham shortly after she participated in her role in 2021 amid questions about accounting and expense in the construction of a hotel and a conference center in Birmingham.
His findings were presented to the Executive Council of the Union on Friday.
Unite said the investigation discovered a “disability” of £ 53.8 million related to the difference between the original assessment of the Birmingham project used to calculate the “book value” by the auditors at that time and the real value.
The BDO report also said that there had been “unusual relations” between former senior staff and Unite clients and suppliers, according to the BBC, which obtained a copy of the 35 -page document before publication.
In response, Mrs. Graham, who promised to strengthen internal governance practices, said: “In the name of the more than 1.2 million unite members, I promised in my choice that I would discover the truth about the alleged historical corruption related to the Birmingham hotel project.
“This process has been frankly ugly, where I have suffered attacks and spots of those with much to lose, but they have not dissuaded me.
“The reaudito is in its final stages already measured, I will make sure that the steps are taken so that this can never happen again and we have already begun the process of recovering our money.
“In the last three years of my leadership, I have renamed our union in the work, payment and conditions of our members and we have secured a union that is financially strongly and capable of fighting for workers.”
