World Athletics says it has been the victim of corporate theft worth more than €1.5m (£1.3m) conducted by former staff.
Athletics’ governing body said on Thursday that two employees and a contracted consultant stole €1.5m over a period of several years, with the theft ultimately discovered during the first annual audit under its new financial leadership.
The discovery prompted an internal investigation and referrals to “the relevant judicial and legal authorities” for criminal investigation.
One employee had already left World Athletics before the theft was discovered, while the other employee and the contractor were sacked after it came to light.
The statement added: “World Athletics instructed an independent forensic accounting review of the period to supplement its own internal investigation and no other fraudulent activity was found.
“A set of enhanced internal financial controls are being introduced across the organisation.”
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe was quoted saying: “Unfortunately, corporate theft happens in organisations around the world and across all industry sectors at different levels. The most important thing is to identify it, review how it was able to happen and then introduce new processes and enhanced controls to ensure it doesn’t happen again. This is what we have done.
“We are also determined to recover whatever monies we are able using the full force of the law to do this. Too many organisations brush incidents like this under the carpet, terminating employment with limited information which allows perpetrators to continue their scams and thefts within new organisations. We are not that type of organisation.
“We have built a strong reputation for good governance, transparency and for defending what is right, even if it is sometimes a little uncomfortable. This is uncomfortable but it is important that we do the right thing.”
