Corruption is a serious crime that affects all sections of society. It erodes political, economic and social stability. It can even threaten national security and the safety of citizens as criminals are aided in their illegal activities by corrupt public officials. It also erodes the reputation of institutions and companies that engage in corrupt transactions. In addition, corruption undermines the effectiveness of the legal system as it provides a fertile ground for criminal activity and facilitates corrupt transactions that cross borders and jurisdictions.
Detecting and challenging corruption is often difficult as it may involve many people in different levels of an organization or government body. It is therefore essential to have clear protocols about which reports should be investigated and by whom. This will prevent limited resources and time from resulting in an arbitrary selection of only those cases most advantageous to the organisation or State (see Module 10 of E4J University).
The first step in a corruption probe is to gather information about the issue. This can be done through a variety of methods including interviewing witnesses, obtaining documents and records and analysing information. In addition, it is important to establish whether the corruption has taken place by tracing payments back to the source of the funds through the use of negotiated agreements or exercise of contract audit rights as well as subpoenas and search warrants where appropriate.
One way to do this is through specialized anti-corruption bodies but also new technologies such as websites and mobile phone apps allow citizens to report instances of corruption easily. For example, the M-Score initiative in Vietnam enables citizens to report on whether they have been asked for a bribe by local government officials through text messaging.