A misuse of aid funds was discovered in the Finn Church Aid office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the beginning of January. The discovery was made by office’s internal audit and the suspected employee was immediately freed of any working commitments.

Through investigation into the issue, further evidence of fraud was found and the employee in question was immediately laid off. No other FCA staff member was involved in the incident.  

The investigation found the employee having used funds intended for a humanitarian aid programme for other purposes for a total sum of 1615 EUR. The fraud is related to the use of temporary employees in an agricultural project. The employee has expressed a wish to reimburse the funds fully. The total budget for the project ending 2nd February 2015 is around 94 500 EUR. 

Finn Church Aid runs both humanitarian and development programmes in the DRC. The finances of all programs are rigorously monitored and monitoring actions will be further strengthened in the light of the newly discovered fraud. 

FCA conducts a full investigation in all cases of fraud or misuse of funds and works towards preventing any harm caused by them.

Further information:
Marjo Mäenpää, Acting Country Manager in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, tel. +243 82 231 3047
Tomi Järvinen, Director of International Cooperation, tel. +358 40 641 8209