Litigation Support: Utilizing Financial Analysis to Find the Story Behind the Numbers

Mark A. Buckberg, CPA, CFE, CFF, Principal

Finding fraud and substantiating a legal case often involve retracing a complex web of transactions and accounts. There are many sources of financial data that can be analyzed to uncover embezzlement, corruption, and financial statement fraud in white collar crime cases, and also substantiate claims of asset misappropriation in divorce cases.

Early involvement of a forensic accountant can be crucial to gathering the financial information necessary to reveal critical evidence. For effective discovery, your […]

Don’t Become a Victim of Fraud and Identity Theft

John Merchant, CPA, CFE

Fraud and identity theft have become a serious and ever-increasing problem.  No one wants to become a victim and there are certain basics rules to follow to avoid being victimized.  Here are eleven simple ways you can protect yourself:

Never give your personal information over the telephone.  Fraudsters often call you posing as representatives of banks, investment companies, credit card companies or even the Internal Revenue Service and ask you to verify confidential information so that […]

Protect Yourself Against Investment Fraud: Regularly Review Your Account Statements

John Merchant, CPA, CFE

Do you have an investment account at a bank or with a brokerage firm?  And, if so, do you carefully study the transactions in your account, either online or when you receive a paper statement?  If not, you should, regardless of how much you trust your banker or investment firm.

Unfortunately, many people simply check their balance to see if they have gained or lost value and ignore the details of transactions.  Recently, a PNC Bank investment […]

Preventing Fraud with Surprise Audits

Alex Helfand, ENCE, Computer Forensic Specialist

Surprise audits are an important, but often overlooked fraud prevention mechanism.  Many unscrupulous employees anticipate the regular audit and cover their tracks accordingly, but a surprise audit can expose the usually hidden graft.   Additionally, the simple threat of a potential audit can deter fraudulent employee behavior.

These audits often cover the same areas as a routine audit, but in more depth.  Areas of focus in a surprise audit can include:

Accounts Payable.  A common occupational fraud […]

Detecting Financial Statement Fraud: Part 2

Alex Helfand, ENCE, Computer Forensic Specialist

In the previous post , I reviewed common motivations for committing financial statement fraud, as well as several common ways that financial statements can be manipulated.  This post covers additional misrepresentations and how forensic accountants identify them.
Concealed Liabilities and Expenses: Concealed liabilities can include warranties attached to sales, underreported Incurred-but-not-Reported (IBNR) health benefits, or simple omission of liabilities.  Expenses can be concealed by capitalization that spreads the expense out over a number of years […]

Detecting Financial Statement Fraud: Part 1

Alex Helfand, ENCE, Computer Forensic Specialist

Of the three types of occupational fraud – corruption, asset misappropriation, and fraudulent financial statements – financial statement manipulation has the potential to cause the greatest impact. Just as there are many motives to commit an intentional misstatement or omission of amounts on the face of the financial statements or in the note disclosures, there are also many items forensic accountants, and users of the financial statements, can look for to ensure that they […]