Consultancy...
I can understand the hardware aspect - your accounts show purchase of certain equipment which never gets added to the capital items register as it does not actually exist. Sooner or later someone will notice. I accept that small items might slip under the radar there.
Consultancy: sounds like the accused was able to authorise payment for consultants and act as the reporting manager for those consultants. I can see that activity by consultants could be faked. Actually I'm wondering why the accused didn't simply hire an out of work character actor to wear a suit and turn up with a nice Moleskine notebook and sit in meetings and make notes and sign a time sheet. Knock up a bit of a report at home that simply agrees with actions he decided to take anyway and then there you are - consultancy services supplied.
Disclaimer: I work in public sector. Ordering a packet of tracing paper or a box of pens is so heavily audited that I don't bother and just go down the £1 shop. In most places isn't there a need to have purchase orders countersigned by a more senior manager?
