This is violation of trust, and it matters! Auditors must design their audits to look for fraud, and failure to do so may cause massive losses for stakeholders, investors, creditors and retirees. Neglecting to detect fraud can be truly life-altering — especially for...
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Strengthen Waged-Based Loss Cases with a Forensic Accounting Expert Sooner Rather than Later
I have worked in lost profits and damages for more than 17 years, and during my tenure I have worked with attorneys in a variety of capacities to provide financial consulting and expert support in a broad range of personal and corporate disputes. One of those capacities includes serving as a forensic accounting expert on cases involving wage-based losses.
The Give and the Take in Charitable Giving
Charitable giving, while good with intent, is not always received as expected. Let’s say you and I give to a seemingly worthwhile charity. You may be surprised at who really takes from the charity – frequently, it’s the fundraisers and executives. Oftentimes the fundraisers and executives are one in the same, since many founders will leave the charity to start a consulting and fundraising business to contract with the charity. This is really where it begins to get out of hand.
A Lesson on Investigating Fraud from A Fictional Investigator
As a frequent speaker on the subject of fraud, people often ask me, “How do you investigate fraud?” My answer is always the same: You look for the anomaly. To me, it sounds so simple until I step back and realize that most people cannot see the anomaly, although it is usually right in front of them.
Careful Out There – Ponzi Schemes are Alive and Well
With all of the publicity that surrounded the Bernard Madoff, Scott Rothstein, ZeekRewards and Allen Stanford Ponzi schemes, among many others, you would think that people would have by now received the message about Ponzi Schemes; how they work and how those investors lose their money.
Cyber-security: Minimizing Internal Threats
Like a magician’s sleight of hand, the barrage of headline news related to hackers and cyber criminals may divert attention away from the equally dangerous, but perhaps less obvious, threat to your corporate assets: employees. While trusted employees are moving, sharing, and exposing corporate data just to do their jobs, the malicious employee may be deliberately taking confidential information for personal gain or other nefarious reasons.
Computer Forensics v. E-Discovery: What Every Expert Should Know
Increasingly, the answers to the most fundamental litigation questions – the “who, what, where, when, and why” – are contained in electronically stored information (ESI), which can be retrieved through electronic discovery (e-discovery) and/or computer forensics.
How to Find Electronically Stored Information
In our case study, gas station owner, Morris, has alleged that Green Fuel, a small gasoline distributor, overcharged him. Both parties had inadequate and unsophisticated documentation, making determining losses very difficult.
Electronically Stored Information: The Case Study
You might not think that a small business would have useful or accessible electronically stored information (ESI). Consider this example of identifying and obtaining relevant forensic evidence to determine lost profit damages with this particular small business.
Unlocking the Potential of Electronically Stored Information
Think twice before you assume that an unsophisticated small business cannot possibly have any useful or accessible electronically stored information (ESI).
Look for the anomaly to find fraud
Events may happen in a person's life that can lead to an act of desperation. And desperate people may take irrational actions. I am talking about bad economic times, the failure of a business, the loss of a job, divorce, a family member on drugs, disease, children in...
Guarding Against Embezzlement Fraud: Defensive Measures
Now that you’ve gained valuable information from the first and second parts of our educational series, Guarding Against Embezzlement Fraud, we offer insight into defensive measures. It is extremely important to understand the necessity of an adequately controlled...