Police have been investigating after watchdogs at Norfolk County Council reported suspected cases of fraud and corruption involving the public and council staff.
A new report has revealed 13 referrals of alleged fraud or corrupt practices were made to the county council's internal auditors in 2021/22.
Almost half of those referrals led to police involvement, including an alleged attempt by a member of the public to fraudulently claim money from a council fund set up to help people in hardship.
There have also been allegations of theft from the council, along with council staff accessing databases without proper authorisation.
Norfolk County Council's Liberal Democrat Group said significant amounts of public money could be lost through these activities and said the issue should not be "swept under the carpet."
A Norfolk County Council spokesman said preventing fraud remains a top priority and the number of incidents is relatively low for the size of the organisation.
Partial details about the cases were revealed in a council document about the work of Norfolk Audit Service in 2021/22.
That service works to protect the public purse by preventing fraud, bribery and corruption across all county council services.
The council has said it cannot provide any extra information about individual cases.
But the report reveals the auditors passed on information which has triggered police investigations.
Among those probes is one investigating claims a member of the public made false claims to the Norfolk Assistance Scheme to get grants from the council.
That scheme was set up to help people struggling to pay their living costs and thousands sought help from it during the Covid pandemic.
The report showed police are also probing another referral that false documents and financial claims were made to the council.
And three police probes were launched after accusations of theft.
It is not clear who those allegations were made against, and whether they all involved workers employed by the council.
However, the document - the council's annual anti-fraud, bribery and corruption report 2021-22 - says they were "minor cash thefts".
It states there was not enough evidence to arrest anyone, but disciplinary action was triggered.
Three other cases, alleging unauthorised access by council workers to databases were subject to internal County Hall investigations.
One of those probes resulted in a resignation, another worker quit before the investigation started and the third resulted in a minor sanction.
A council spokesman said: "Where relevant, some council employees are allowed access to third party databases under strict rules to protect the information from misuse or inappropriate access.
"Full training is provided on the rules, what is expected of those that use the system and what the consequences of any breaches can be.
"Those systems often have security features that flag when inappropriate access has been attempted or taken place.
"The council is notified of these incidents and we investigate them fully, as per our internal disciplinary procedures."
Saul Penfold, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group at Norfolk County Council, said: "There is now at least one investigation each month being launched to look at potential cases of fraud and corruption, with some of these being passed over to the police for them to investigate.
"Add to this that almost once a month there is a new case of whistle blowing, which can include issues of fraud and corruption, and it is fair to ask just how big a problem is this for the council?
"They can no longer be swept under the carpet. Significant public money is being lost in these cases along with all the costs of the council and the police in then having to investigate these incidents."
A council spokesman said: "Norfolk County Council is pleased with its efforts to tackle fraudulent activity, the UK's number one reported crime.
"Preventing, detecting and recovering losses attributed to fraud and corruption remain a top priority for the public sector as whole.
"The council has a relatively low number of suspected or detected fraud cases, given the significant size of the organisation and services we provide.
"The council’s anti-fraud and corruption policy makes clear that fraud is not tolerated and that it will be fully investigated.
"While individual cases cannot be reported due to the risk of prejudicing legal action or data protection rules the types of risk are reported to and considered by the audit committee.
"We are planning to consult other county councils to see what levels of fraud they are reporting, so that an indicator can be included in our reporting for comparison."
Separate to the 13 referrals this year, investigations into allegations of fraud connected to the council's County Farms estate, are continuing, the report confirmed.
Two men - one in his 50s from Wisbech and one in his 40s from Downham Market - were arrested on suspicion of fraud, linked to the estate, in December 2020.
The pair were questioned at King’s Lynn Police Investigation Centre before being released while the inquiry continued.
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