Sonoma County fraud hotline receives 99 reports of suspected fraud, waste or abuse since creation in 2021

A hotline created in 2021 to allow Sonoma County employees, members of the public and vendors to anonymously report cases of suspected fraud, waste or abuse in County government received 99 tips in its first three years of operation, the County of Sonoma announced today.

Sonoma County Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector Erick Roeser highlighted the impact of the whistleblower hotline today to mark International Fraud Awareness Week, a global campaign to educate the public about the cost of fraud and ways to prevent it.

Suspected fraud, waste or abuse in Sonoma County government can be reported online at https://integritycounts.ca/org/countyofsonoma or submitted via email to countyofsonoma@integritycounts.ca. To submit a report over the phone, County employees are asked to call (800) 921-6840, while members of the public and vendors are asked to call (800) 916-8745.

“The County of Sonoma is committed to accountability, transparency, fairness, and the prudent use of public funds,” Roeser said. “I encourage any County employee or private citizen with evidence of fraud, waste or abuse in County government to contact our hotline and help us put an end to it.”

The whistleblower hotline is set up to address a variety of tips, including allegations of missing cash, embezzlement, falsified documents, theft of equipment and supplies, vendor kickbacks, conflicts of interest, personal use of County assets and bribery.

Launched in June 2021, the hotline received 99 reports of suspected fraud, waste or abuse during its first three years of operation. Investigators found evidence of inappropriate actions in five cases. Of the remaining cases, 72 were closed because the complaints were outside the scope of the program and 12 were closed because not enough information was provided or available to investigate. Investigators were unable to substantiate the allegations in nine cases. One case remains open.

The Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector’s website provides resources to report other types of suspected fraud and abuse. Resources for welfare fraud, law enforcement review, insurance fraud, Medi-Cal fraud, child protection, 24-hour emergency mental health and suicide prevention, safety hazards and code enforcement can be found at https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/acttc/audit/fraud-hotline.  

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Media Contact: 
Ted Appel, Communications Specialist 
publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org 
(707) 565-3040 
575 Administration Drive, Suite 104A 
Santa Rosa, CA 95403