Bond Beebe Principal Larry Beebe, CPA sat down with the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans to review the basics of payroll auditing.
See more on the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans’ Blog.
How can tips and hotlines help detect corporate fraud and prevent information leakage?
Almost half of all occupational fraud is detected by some sort of tip, reporting suspicious activity. How can tips and hotlines help detect corporate fraud and prevent information leakage?
Tips about fraud can come from various sources, including employees, customers, vendors or even competitors, and firms should encourage people to provide them.
First, providing a telephone hotline is a great avenue for reporting suspicious activities. Hotlines should be well-publicized […]
Fraud in the workplace may cause U.S. organizations to lose an average of 7% of their annual revenue. It is therefore important to know the basic categories of occupational fraud, and who is likely to commit fraud.
Occupational fraud is essentially defined as,”taking advantage of an occupational situation to attain personal enrichment by intentionally misusing or misapplying an organization’s resources.”
The three basic categories of occupational fraud are:
Fraudulent financial statements;
Misappropriation of assets; and
Corruption (like bribes and kickbacks).
Small businesses […]
Complicated financial issues often come into play during a divorce settlement, and even more so in high net worth cases. It’s common for one spouse to assume the money management role in a marriage, and rarely do both spouses have equal knowledge of their financial affairs. So when a spouse is suspicious of unreported income or hidden assets, it can be critical for legal counsel to work with a qualified forensic accountant to aid in a divorce settlement. The […]
Forensic accountants can be invaluable when reaching settlement in a case – but how?
I think the greatest use for a forensic accountant would be to uncover very clear, undeniable evidence, which certainly helps in a case.
The second thing that the specialist could do is have a well-written report, because if you can combine clear and compelling evidence with a clearly-written report, it’s likely to convince a judge or a jury. That often promotes a settlement, because the other side […]
How can you determine income available for child support and equitable distribution in divorce cases?
Divorce typically requires equitable distribution, and often a requirement for child support. How are these figures determined?
I think there are two steps to that:
One would be a complete financial analysis to figure out what assets are available, and what could be distributed to each party.
The second step would likely be financial projections. When you’re trying to determine what would be a reasonable amount […]
Once a case for fraud has been initiated, when should a forensic investigation be done?
As early as possible, for a couple reasons:
One is, once an investigation begins, there is opportunity for the perpetrator to destroy evidence. You want the investigation by the forensic team to start before that happens.
Also, in the case of computer imaging to reveal data, we have to face the unfortunate situation that data can be overridden. So, something that has been deleted from […]
What types of investigations require a Certified Fraud Examiner? Well there are several that would require such a person.
One would be an embezzlement case where you need someone to investigate records to see if there’s been a misappropriation of assets.
Another would be fraudulent financial statements which would be probably be a result of management rather than an employee, where someone specifically misstates their financial statements in order to get a loan or bring in new capital.
A […]
Since the recent economic downturn, individuals as well as businesses of all sizes have been facing immense financial pressures. So, it’s no wonder that the number of fraudulent financial activities and schemes is on the rise. An estimated 20 percent of U.S. businesses are subjected to fraud incidents each year, translating to a loss of over $600 billion.
The overall financial climate, coupled with advancements in technology over the past few years have translated to even more opportunities for computer […]
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 […]
