Factors which complicate investigation

Several factors applicable to the infrastructure sector can facilitate corruption in the construction phase.  These factors can also complicate an investigation into such corruption.  These factors include:

• numerous companies and individuals may be involved in the project (e.g. project owner, contractor, sub-contractors, suppliers, consultants)
• the above participants are bound together in a complex contractual structure which could have numerous contractual links
• the project may be technically complex which could be difficult for the investigator to understand, and corruption could be concealed in technical issues
• there may be a large quantity of different types of complex documents, (contract conditions, specification, bill of quantities, drawings, programme, delivery and work records, test certificates, payment applications)
• the project may be in a location which is difficult to access
• work items may be concealed by other items (e.g. the aggregate in the road base course will be covered over by the asphalt surface course; structural steel will be embedded in concrete)
• there is a general lack of transparency in the infrastructure sector which makes facts and comparable data hard to establish.

(Note:  Module 2: “Why infrastructure projects are prone to corruption” examines these factors in more detail).

It is difficult for investigators to:

• compare prices between projects (as projects differ in design and location)
• establish company ownership (due to concealed ownership structures and lack of public records)
• assess responsibility for actions and outcomes (as parties may blame each other, and conceal their actions through false evidence)
• identify corrupt payments (as payments may be made in cash, or through intermediaries, or to bank accounts in false names)
• assess dishonest intent (as a person may claim that the actions being investigated were not corrupt, but were accidental, or a negligent mistake).