Fraud Duke Energy's Code of Business Ethics
Fraud, or the potential of fraud, compromises the integrity of our financial reporting system and the safety of our assets, both physical and intellectual.
Fraud is the act of intentionally misrepresenting or concealing facts that cause another party to act or not act in reliance on the misrepresentation or concealment. Fraud may be committed by one person or by two or more (collusion) and may be committed by internal and/or external parties (vendors, customers, etc.).
Our Responsibilities
All employees must understand what constitutes fraud and refrain from engaging in fraudulent activity, including collusive fraud which bypasses existing controls. Moreover, employees are responsible for reporting all instances of potential fraud.
Concerns related to questionable accounting, internal financial controls or auditing matters are reported to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors.
Duke Energy employees must:
- Understand what constitutes fraud and refrain from engaging in fraudulent activity.
- Report all instances of potential fraud.
Duke Energy employees must not:
- Engage in fraudulent activity, including collusive fraud which bypasses existing controls.
Q & A
Q. What are some types of fraud?
A. Various types of potential fraud include:
Fraudulent financial reporting
- Intentional reporting of false expense or revenue data which improperly states amounts reported on publicly filed financial statements.
- Intentional misstatement of price data reported for price index purposes.
- Intentional misapplication of accounting principles relating to amounts, classification, accrual, manner of presentation, or disclosure.
- Intentional misstatement of accounting estimates and judgments.
Misappropriation of assets
- Submitting an inaccurate expense report for personal expenses.
- Excessive personal use of company supplies or assets.
- Fraudulent financial reporting (see above) for purposes of increasing personal gain through incentive measure calculations.
- Improper time reporting with intent to defraud.
Corruption and other fraud related malfeasance
- Overriding existing controls, rendering the controls ineffective.
- Falsifying personal credentials.
- Falsifying documents or certifications required by company procedures and/or regulatory authorities, including providing your signature as a quality assurance check without completing the inspection process.
- Tampering with documents.
- Participating in illegal acts in collusion with others - in particular concealing the transfer of funds involved in the illegal actions (money laundering).
