Donal O’Hagan, CFE, recently earned his credential after years of observing and investigating fraud in the parking industry. As the founder of Parking Business Services, he advises organizations on how to set up and run parking operations with a focus on fraud prevention built in to their business from the start.

How did you become passionate about fighting fraud?

I was born in Dublin and lived all my “single” life in our family home on the grounds of Dublin Airport — literally located between the two main runways! This unique location meant that almost all of my family’s careers were influenced by the airport and we all spent at least some of our working lives employed there. I joined Aer Rianta (the airport authority) straight out of school, and it was there where I gained my formative business experience and qualifications. During my 21 years employed at Dublin Airport, I held a number of roles which gave me an insight into how important fraud deterrence is for an organization.

I gained my most relevant fraud experience during the six years I spent as internal audit officer. The role involved constant evaluation of existing procedures, for both effectiveness and compliance, and covered all of the company’s many departments and divisions. During my time in internal audit, a major asset misappropriation fraud scheme was discovered. The human carnage among colleagues and friends made a lasting impression on me and was a significant factor in my becoming interested in the reasons why fraud occurs within organizations.

The role of airport car park manager, in one of the major cash businesses operated at the airport, gave me a view from the “other side of the fence,” when it became my responsibility to ensure the tightest possible fraud deterrence and compliance controls were adopted and operated.

What steps led you to start your current business Parking Business Services?

The second major part of my career involved 15 years of selling high-value parking equipment to property owners and parking operators. I saw many different types of parking operations, from the smallest lots to the largest shopping centers, some of which had owners who had no comprehension of what was needed to put the necessary anti-fraud controls in place. They mostly believed their staff were trustworthy and that all was good as long as the deposits kept arriving in the bank.

A combination of my past experiences as an auditor and car park manager, along with a forensic knowledge of the workings of the cash systems used to control parking, led me to identify an opportunity where I could offer independent advice to owners about how to protect their cash and assets. In 2014 I founded my consultancy business Parking Business Services.

While the initial launch of my business focused on the Irish marketplace, it quickly became clear that expertise in parking is valued the world over. Within a few years of launching, I had advised on projects in Malta, the U.K., Senegal, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

I advised these international customers on how to improve the customers’ parking experience in a major shopping center, how to win a bid for operation of airport parking and how to set up a parking operations company. A fundamental part of any advice I offered was making sure all procedures had a focus on fraud prevention at their core. Starting out with the proper controls in place is always better than trying to get rid of bad habits.

You’ve worked in the parking industry for some time. What are some unique challenges you've faced in that space? Do you think the public has any misconceptions about the industry or fraud within it?

The parking industry often gets a bad reputation from the public — born out of the sense that nobody really wants to pay to park their car. Additionally, the controls property owners put in place to prevent fraud (by either the public or staff), by insisting on interrogation of customers along with forms being filled in order to replace lost tickets, can rub people the wrong way. What the public and some staff don’t appreciate is there is a need to have controls in place to ensure opportunity for fraud is not present during such interactions.

With large cash-based parking activity levels, there has always been an opportunity for criminal types to use parking garages as laundering fronts for their illicit activities. However, with the growth of card payments and app-based parking tools, it has become much more difficult to hide fraudulent activity.

One frustration I have felt with some owners relates to their lack of understanding of the importance of regular audits. They seem to feel that their “loyal” staff will be upset if auditors appear too regularly to check their work. What they don’t appreciate is that the audit might be the only thing keeping their loyal staff loyal. They fail to understand that the needs of any staff member could change overnight due to illness, addiction, loss or economic pressures. This could lead to a scenario where the honest staff member, who has always had opportunity, might now feel the only way to resolve their need is to avail of the access they have to the owner’s resources. They may even justify it to themselves that they have been so honest for years that they deserve to be rewarded for this.

What is a memorable case or project that you have worked on?

The most significant fraud case I’ve been involved with came about as a direct result of a lack of regular independent audits. My initial involvement was to carry out a routine audit of the procedures and controls on behalf of the owners of the facility. The car park was operated by a property management company, who had little understanding of the audit controls required to protect the large volumes of cash handled.

The initial audit findings identified a significant gap between the system’s reported cash takings versus the bank deposits. The major audit weakness was related to the acceptance of handwritten records as evidence of the cash counted and the absence of any verification of system-produced reports. Further examination and forensic system analysis led to findings of major cash variances, which resulted in a legal claim by the owner to recover significant damages in lieu of cash differences, which were discovered to have existed for several years.

The legal team had planned to use me as an expert witness for the court case, but it was settled in advance of a court date. Appearance as the expert witness would have been a first for me, which, as a result of my recent studies for the CFE credential, I’m thankful didn’t happen, as I would have been a lot less prepared than I now know I should have been.

Why did you decide to get recently certified as a CFE and how has being a member, and becoming a CFE, impacted your professional development?

Throughout my working life I’ve learned there is huge value in expanding my knowledge base through attempting qualifications relating to either my current post or a post I wish to attain in the future. The more time I spent trying to convince owners of the importance of corporate governance, the more I realized that fraud is not just prevalent in the parking industry; the fraud scenarios I uncovered in some of my audits often extended into the owners’ administration departments or property management departments, leading me to believe that my skill set could be applied to a much broader range of businesses. However, I felt there was a need to expand my knowledge of formal fraud detection and prevention skills, which led me to search for where such skills could be found.

I’m not sure precisely how I found out about ACFE, but when I examined the website, I felt I’d hit the bullseye with what was offered. A course I could take in my own time, with a short, sharp effort required, was exactly what I needed. The arrival of COVID-19 and the associated lockdown then offered up the ideal time to knuckle down and get my credential. The creation of a discussion group containing like-minded professionals, all attempting the same qualification in the same timeframe, was hugely helpful throughout the process, as were the online study materials and progress tests.

Earning the CFE credential has allowed me to create plans to expand my business into sectors I hadn’t previously targeted. Corporate governance is essential to all businesses, but my intention is to target the small-to-medium enterprises that may not yet have all the required structures to avoid liability in the event of fraud occurring within their organization. The course materials and templates will prove to be of great assistance should I be successful in my attempts to win such business.

What activities or hobbies do you like to do outside of work?

When I’m not trying to sort out some problem parking facilities or chasing down fraudsters, I enjoy going for long walks, long bike rides and playing golf. Exercise has always been important to me and throughout life I’ve been involved in (Gaelic) football, athletics, tennis, golf, cycling and coaching. It gives me immense pleasure to see our three adult children also integrate exercise into their daily activities — hopefully they get the same mental and physical benefits as I do from it.

ACFE membership is open to individuals of all job functions, industries and levels of experience who are interested in the prevention, detection and deterrence of fraud. Our mission is to support you by providing access to the knowledge, resources and training you need to do your job now and at every stage of your career. If you want to level up your anti-fraud career, we can help.

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