A SINGLE forged signature was allegedly all it took to orchestrate what is believed to be the biggest embezzlement of taxpayers' funds in Queensland history.

A nationwide manhunt has been launched for prime suspect Hohepa Morehu-Barlow, a purchasing officer in Queensland Health who claimed to be a co-owner of an upmarket perfumery.

Read about Hohepa Morehu-Barlow's champagne lifestyle in The Courier-Mail print edition

More than $5 million is believed to have been transferred from the department's accounts through a sophisticated network over the past three years.

A further $11 million was shifted in a single transaction in the past fortnight.

The gaping hole in Queensland Health's financial security is a massive embarrassment for the Bligh Government.

An identical complaint about 12 months ago to the Crime and Misconduct Commission about Morehu-Barlow, who also goes by the first name Joel, was dismissed by a Queensland Health internal investigation.

However, a low-level financial officer is believed to have become suspicious and raised concerns with the chief finance officer this week.

The Auditor-General also failed to discover the multimillion-dollar ruse in his frequent checks but warned recently of risks because of lax financial controls.

"There appears to have been a loss of focus across the public sector on maintaining basic financial controls with the number of agencies failing to maintain these controls increasing," a report in July said.

"This trend has the potential to expose the public sector as a whole to significant risk."

Premier Anna Bligh announced an independent audit of Queensland Health's accounts, with the results to be handed over to police.

"I have to say I am furious about this issue," she said. "I think every Queenslander has a right to be angry.

"What it shows is that no matter how many checks and balances you have, large organisations can sometimes be victims to people with a serious criminal intent."

However, it was unclear last night whether Queensland Health conducted checks on Morehu-Barlow before his employment in 2005 as purchasing officer.

Morehu-Barlow was at work on Thursday as police descended on the department but has disappeared.

Police have frozen up to $12 million of his assets ranging a swanky New Farm apartment, luxury vehicles, including a Mercedes-Benz, to high-class artworks and large sums of cash in bank accounts.

Morehu-Barlow was lauded among Brisbane's fashionistas and earned a spot in The Sunday Mail's annual most-stylish list.

However, the lavish lifestyle of the public service middle manager seems to have evaded the scrutiny of Queensland Health, despite the prior investigation.

Queensland-based family of the unmarried 36-year-old have been contacted by the police.

"We believe he is still in the country and we have taken all appropriate steps to protect all exit points," Deputy Police Commissioner Ross Barnett said.

Parts of this article have been removed for legal reasons.

Originally published as How $16m vanished from Qld Health