How can e-mail, voicemail, GPS and other digital information be used in fraud cases?

Digital information such as e-mail, voicemail and GPS often seem to reveal key information, but how may these items be used in court?

One of the key benefits of having this type of information, first of all, is it can show intent. You can find out from emails what a person intended to do. One key point is there’s no such thing as an “accidental fraud.” Under the law it has to be intentional, so establishing intent can be […]

December 28, 2012 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Benefit Plan Policies: Social Media

Larry Beebe, CPA

In this series, we are reviewing the written plan policies needed to help your benefit plan stay compliant and operate most effectively. For a full list of the necessary policies and why your plan should implement them, click here.

In the past few years, organizations have been developing social media policies to preserve the rights of employees (and trustees for employee benefit plans) to engage in social networking sites, blogs, bulletin boards and chat rooms, emails and other […]

December 22, 2012 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting Read more...

Full Disclosure: Challenges in Implementing 408(b)(2) Regulation for 401(k) Plans

Scott Price, CPA

As 401(k) plans have begun to implement the Department of Labor (DOL)’s new 408(b)(2) fee disclosure regulation, plans have discovered several challenges and nuances.  I had the opportunity to speak with the Washington Business Journal on this topic a couple of weeks ago.  As I state in the article, one of the biggest challenges will be for 401(k) plans to concisely and clearly provide service fee information to plan participants.  401(k) plan administrators should attempt to format […]

December 20, 2012 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting Read more...

Implications of mobile technology on today’s digital forensic methods?

Mobile technology, social media, and cloud computing have radically altered our current digital forensic methods.  How have these methods been affected, and what other changes will these new technologies bring?

The easy and obvious answer is that these technologies have made an investigation much more complex.  It becomes more difficult to recover the data and to do the things we normally would do in an investigation.  It calls for some specialized expertise in working with an IT professional.

The opportunities though […]

December 19, 2012 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

What are key signs of financial asset misappropriation in divorce settlements?

There are often suspicions of financial asset misappropriation in divorce cases, but what are the signs of this possibility?

I think there are several key indicators that might come up:

One would be previously unknown assets. For instance, if you can discover a cash account or an investment portfolio or a piece of real estate that was unknown to the other spouse, that would be a sign of misappropriation.
Another indicator might be unexplained transactions, such as checks written to […]

December 19, 2012 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

SCALING THE FISCAL CLIFF: A GLIMPSE OVER THE LEDGE

Scott Reddersen, CPA

As signs of progress are surfacing in an effort to avoid the Country’s dive off the “fiscal cliff,” it’s a good time to take a look at which tax issues are being negotiated as the ledge quickly approaches.  The tax provisions set to expire on December 31, 2012 are comprised of the following key components:

Bush Tax Cuts

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Patch
Temporary Payroll Tax Cut
Tax Extenders

The most significant element of the fiscal cliff from a tax […]

December 18, 2012 Accounting, Tax Read more...

A TAX BENEFIT FOR PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES’ FINES?

In recent years, fines imposed by various professional sports teams and organizations on professional athletes have become commonplace. But what are the tax implications of these fines paid by players? Professional athletes may be able to claim these fines on their Schedule A as a miscellaneous deduction for unreimbursed employee expenses subject to the 2% adjusted gross income (AGI) floor.

According to Internal Revenue Code (IRC) §162, a miscellaneous deduction is allowed for “ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred […]

December 12, 2012 Accounting, Tax Read more...

Health Care Reform Update: W-2 Reporting Requirement Waived for 2012

Brian Garstecki, CPA

As multiemployer plans turn their focus to complying with Affordable Care Act regulations, we will be providing periodic updates and guidance to help clarify these new provisions and provide guidance for how to focus your compliance efforts.  This blog is the first in these series of updates.

One of the hallmarks of the Affordable Care Act is the requirement for employers to report the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan on employees’ W-2 Forms. Employers […]

December 11, 2012 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting Read more...

How do you choose the right forensic accountant for a case?

Forensic accountants have varying backgrounds and skillsets, so how do you select the appropriate one?

We could approach it from two angles. The first could be to someone who’s looking to hire a forensic accountant. The second would be, how would I approach it, assigning someone to a case.

Let’s start with the outside person. What you first want to consider is experience. Can the person demonstrate that they’ve been involved in this type of investigation for a while so they […]

November 28, 2012 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

(Don’t) Lie to Me: Detecting Lies and Deceit in Interviews

Alex Helfand, ENCE, Computer Forensic Specialist

Interviews are a key part of a fraud investigation, and often one of the first steps in the investigative process.  An effective interview can expose organizational weaknesses, identify employees who may be motivated to steal, and, of course, produce a confession from a guilty party.

Although it is difficult to tell if a person is lying during an interview, there are some behavioral indicators to watch out for which tend to indicate a lie or […]

November 26, 2012 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...