Adviser — Commodity Fraud and Control Frameworks

Processes to examine

Map transaction approval, document creation, stock reporting, payment changes and release instructions. Identify incompatible access, weak independent verification and incentives that encourage bypassing controls. Consider collusion across internal and external parties, including cases where documents appear consistent because they originate from connected sources.

Advisory responsibilities

Develop risk-specific controls and indicators, with clear ownership and escalation. Recommend how concerns should be triaged, evidence preserved and specialist investigation commissioned when warranted. Review whether management can detect repeated small exceptions that form a larger pattern.

Indicators should be assessed in combinations and context: repeated last-minute payment changes, unusual document similarities or persistent stock adjustments may warrant review, but none alone proves misconduct. The adviser should recommend a triage process that preserves confidentiality and avoids alerting relevant parties unnecessarily when specialist investigation is required. Control improvements should also address incentives and access rights. A new approval step will have little value if the approver lacks independent information or routinely accepts exceptions under commercial pressure.

Candidate evidence

Candidates should have commodity fraud-risk, investigations, forensic control or operational assurance experience. They need practical understanding of trade documents and physical inventory processes, together with disciplined treatment of allegations and evidence. Experience implementing controls after a loss event is relevant.

Outcomes to deliver

The engagement should leave a prioritised vulnerability assessment, practical control changes and an escalation protocol. Candidates should explain how they distinguish a data-quality issue from a potential fraud indicator without prematurely concluding either. The role is advisory and does not confer authority to conduct intrusive investigations, make accusations or bypass established legal and employment procedures.