Monaco: World Athletics said, it uncovered earlier this year, a systematic theft of money from the organization by two employees and a contracted consultant.

According to Ghana News Agency, the organization stated in a release on Thursday that the theft, amounting to just over £1.5 million ($1.73 million), was identified by its finance department during the first annual auditing process under a new financial leadership team.

One of the employees involved left the organization before the theft was discovered, while another employee and a consultant had their contracts terminated following an internal investigation. Detailed cases have been prepared and handed over to the relevant judicial and legal authorities for criminal investigation, World Athletics said.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe commented, “Unfortunately, corporate theft happens in organizations around the world and across all industry sectors at different levels. The most important thing is to identify it, review how it was able to happen and then introduce new processes and enhanced controls to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

He further emphasized the organization’s commitment to recovering the stolen funds, stating, “We are also determined to recover whatever monies we are able, using the full force of the law to do this. Too many organizations brush incidents like this under the carpet, terminating employment with limited information, which allows perpetrators to continue their scams and thefts within new organizations. We are not that type of organization.”