Mark Cheeseman OBE
Biography
Mark Cheeseman OBE is the Chief Executive of the Public Sector Fraud Authority.
Mark heads up the Public Sector Fraud Authority, which works with UK government departments and public bodies to better understand and reduce the impact of fraud. Mark is a fraud and financial crime expert, specialising in risk assessment and measurement.
He led the development of the Government’s Counter Fraud Function and the Government Counter Fraud Profession as well as the creation of organisational standards and the use of data sharing and analytics, transforming the way that central government deals with fraud - leading to an increase of detected and prevented fraud of over 250% and £100ms in audited benefits from counter fraud activity. He also helped set up and currently acts as an advisor to the Australian government’s Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre and supported the New Zealand government in creating their Counter Fraud Centre. He led the creation of the International Public Sector Fraud Forum, a group of leading experts on fraud management who produce international guidance on leading practice.
Mark chairs and sits on a number of cross government boards and has led several reviews into fraud management. Prior to joining the Cabinet Office, Mark was Head of Counter Fraud and Investigations at the Legal Aid Agency, where he reformed agency’s approach to countering fraud, which led to the first prosecutions of members of the public for legal aid fraud, the first cross-agency prosecutions with other public bodies, a fundamental redesign of the fraud risk assessment model and refocusing the function to deliver a return on investment from the Counter Fraud Function that exceeded its cost. Mark was also part of the team that successfully took the Legal Aid Agency out of accounts qualification by the National Audit Office.
Chief Executive Officer, Public Sector Fraud Authority
The Chief Executive leads the Public Sector Fraud Authority and reports to HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office Ministers.
They lead expert functions to drive the public sector fraud agenda, including performance, capability improvement and policy activity. They also oversee expert-led support services that enable departments and public bodies to better fight fraud through risk management, prevention, data analytics and enforcement. The functions and services of the PSFA will be built over the next 2 years.