Fraud and Other Corporate Investigations

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An Ill-Fated Scheme and a Voodoo Spell

October 2020 Fraud lurks in dark corners and hidden spaces.  It’s often found where one would least expect it, whether a Ponzi scheme perpetuated through a religious organization or other strong affiliate network, a caretaker pilfering from a family member’s asset accounts via financial elder abuse, or when a trusted employee realizes he can exploit [...]

Fraud in the Time of Coronavirus

April 2020 The unfortunate counterpart to system and personal vulnerabilities are those looking to exploit them for gain.  The current circumstances surrounding the current coronavirus (COVID-19) are no different. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have issued numerous warnings regarding fraudulent activities related to COVID-19.  U.S. Attorneys’ offices [...]

When Employee Dissatisfaction Becomes Employee Theft

Many organizations suffer from varying levels of employee discontent.  Certain employees may feel, rightly or wrongly, that they are not being properly compensated for their contributions or otherwise treated incorrectly.  Some of these employees, feeling their own financial pressures and given the opportunity, will take matters into their own hands. This combination of financial pressure, [...]

Survey Reports Substantial Pressure to Misrepresent Financial Results

February 2019 A recent survey of 306 accounting and finance professionals, including more than 200 controllers from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, describes that almost two-thirds have experienced pressure to “cook the books”. The survey was conducted by Dimensional Research and sponsored by FloQast, an entity which provides management software for [...]

The Deepening Crisis of Financial Elder Abuse

October 2018 America’s aging population, who hold trillions of dollars in assets, are a common target for financial abuse.  Every year, millions of American seniors are scammed by fraudsters who exploit their financial vulnerability, or in some cases diminished cognitive capacity, through a variety of financial schemes.  The National Adult Protective Services Association (“NAPSA”) describes [...]

Another Major Vendor Billing Fraud Hits The Entertainment Industry

May 2016 Vendor billing schemes can occur in any industry, but two recent cases demonstrate the particular risks of the entertainment industry, which relies heavily on services whose actual delivery and consumption may be harder to track. A fraudulent billing scheme using a shell company can sometimes be accomplished with little more than a fictitious name [...]

SEC Utilizes Big Data And Statistics To Target Trading Fraud

July 2015 The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced its first fraud charges involving what some have called an attempt at “Robocop”, derived from tracking behavior using data analytics of large volumes of investment advisors’ trade allocation detail.  The enforcement target is Welhouse & Associates Inc. and its owner Mark P. Welhouse. Mr. Welhouse is [...]

GAO Tells SEC to Look in the Mirror Regarding Internal Control Failures

May 2015 The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), a government watchdog group, recently reported the results of its 2014 audit of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) financial statements.  The findings included (i) troubling reports of internal control failures at the very agency tasked with policing the reporting activities of others and (ii) warnings of [...]

Fraudulent Revenue Recognition Order Causes Rift At The SEC

September 2014 A settlement agreement has been reached In the Matter of Lynn R. Blodgett, Adm. Proc. File No. 3-16045 (August 28, 2014), but without consensus on the part of the Securities Exchange Committee (“SEC”) as to the appropriate penalty. The underlying circumstances involve a financial fraud action against two executives at Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. [...]

Internal Control Failings At The IRS Contribute to Over $100 Billion in Improper Payments

July 2014 The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently issued “Management Report: Improvements Are Needed to Enhance the Internal Revenue Service’s Internal Controls”, describing how the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) continues to have internal control deficiencies, both new and old. The purpose of the report is to present internal control deficiencies identified during the GAO’s [...]

New Rules Aimed At Increasing Auditor Scrutiny Of Critical Fraud Areas

June 2014 With its new audit standards and amendments aimed at specific transaction types, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) has targeted three critical areas in its ongoing efforts to combat financial reporting fraud. The new rules are intended to increase heighten auditor scrutiny regarding (i) related-party deals, (ii) significant unusual transactions, and (iii) [...]

Recent SEC Cases Demonstrate A Desire To Hold Audit Committee Members Accountable

April 2014 The Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has set its sights on audit committee chairs who fail to exercise appropriate oversight and stewardship over financial reporting, recently targeting two who allowed ongoing fraud in the organizations they were tasked with overseeing.  Audit committee chairs of two firms with major Chinese operations, L&L Energy (“L&L”) and [...]

CAQ Proposes Audit Quality Indicators To Assist Audit Committees With Oversight

April 2014 Regulators and standard setters, such as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (“IAASB”) have been working to develop and standardize a framework for evaluating and encouraging audit quality.  After a two year effort, the Center for Audit Quality (“CAQ”), an autonomous public policy organization [...]

The True Cost Of Lowering Audit Fees Is Increased Restatement Risk

March 2014 In association with general cost cutting measures over recent years, many companies have pressured their vendors to reduce fees.  This downward pressure has extended to the accounting firms hired to provide independent audit opinions, resulting in a significant drop in audit fees.  According to Audit Analytics, audit fees in 2012 were $472 per [...]

Lack of Internal Controls Allows Repetitive Small Thefts To Really Add Up

October 2013 A recent article in the Los Angeles Times exemplifies how relatively small repetitive thefts can translate into large dollar amounts when allowed to perpetuate undetected over many years.  In this circumstance a Rialto school district accountant is accused of embezzling between $1.8 and $3.16 million of school lunch money, in weekly increments of [...]

Major Changes In Standard Audit Reports Coming?

August 2013 The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is considering changes to the standard auditor's report, which has remained relatively unchanged for decades.  The hope is that these changes will make the standard auditor’s report more informative, relevant and useful to investors and other financial statement users.  The proposed expanded language would require auditors to [...]

New Guidelines To Assist Companies With Fraud Deterrence

June 2013 Internal Control – Integrated Framework, is a new framework for fraud deterrence that was recently released by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”).  It provides expanded practical advice regarding effective implementation of internal controls.  COSO is a joint initiative of five private sector organizations with a shared interest in [...]

Battling Auditor Involvement In Fraudulent SEC Reporting

May 2013 Even after the increased regulation associated with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in July 2002, the audit profession continues to deal with questions of whether they are truly independent from the companies who employ them and overall audit effectiveness. A recent report commissioned by the Center for Audit Quality (“CAQ”) specifically examines Securities and [...]

Research On Compensation And Fraud Point to the Fraud Triangle

May 2013 A recent study in The Journal of Financial Economics suggests that a compensation structure that relies on financial performance measures can be tied to incidences of fraud.  Generally, the study concludes that individuals are more likely to engage in financial misstatements when there is little downside and high upside.  The implication is that this [...]

SEC Hesitating To Impose Internal Audit Function Requirement On NASDAQ Companies

April 2013 On March 4, 2013, NASDAQ issued a proposed new rule (Release No. 34-69030; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2013-032) which would require listed companies to have an internal audit function: “Each Company must establish and maintain an internal audit function to provide management and the audit committee with ongoing assessments of the Company’s risk management processes [...]

PCAOB Issues Second Mixed Report On Audits By Smaller Firms, But Ultimately Puts Them On Par With Larger Firms

April 2013 On February 25, 2013, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued its summary report on smaller accounting firms. The PCAOB described its inspections and related reporting here as follows: “This report covers domestic audit firms that audit the financial statements of issuers, and that regularly issue 100 or fewer audit reports each [...]

SEC To Utilize Data Analytics To Identify Accounting Irregularities

February 2013 Data is valuable.  The question is once you have it, how can you use it?  Data analytics uses processes to extract and evaluate information from large data sets and identify potential areas of risk, fraud, or error.  Among the often used data analytics activities is benchmarking or trending of data.  Developing these strategies [...]

DOJ & SEC Issue Guidance on Foreign Corrupt Practice Act

November 2012 The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) jointly published a much anticipated guidance on the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  Entitled “A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act”, the “Guide” is 120 pages long, and is significantly more comprehensive than its predecessor, the “Lay Person’s [...]

Standard Chartered Bank Still In Trouble Over Iranian Money Laundering Fraud

August 2012 In a quick settlement over Iranian-related illegal conduct, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) agreed on August 14 to pay $340 million in a settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). The DFS settlement allows SCB to continue operating in New York, but requires an on-site monitor who will report directly [...]

Computer Forensics Deserve A Place In Your Human Resource Toolkit

June 2008 Computers contain evidence useful in many human resource circumstances. Allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment, and unfair discharge are serious threats that are better understood by knowing what an employee did. Since computers are such a pervasive part of most employees’ work lives, analysis of data stored on these computers helps address these issues. [...]

Largest-Ever Ponzi Scheme Hiding in Plain Sight

January 2009 In mid-December, Bernard Madoff was arrested for operating a giant ponzi scheme. After his two sons reported him to regulators, Madoff admitted that losses could be as much as $50 billion. Bloomberg tallied around $37 billion that is currently invested with Madoff, but the total numbers will obviously include amounts not subject to [...]

Electronic Data Is Always Difficult … If You Don’t Try

November 2008 Many times discovery is resisted or analyses are not pursued because of a misguided notion that the work would be too difficult or time consuming. The sheer volume of electronic data sometimes makes it appear that the data is too cumbersome to address. However, with the correct skills and tools, this initial perception [...]

Delaware Case Alters Existing Practice Regarding Use Of Special Committees

January 2008 The Delaware Chancery Court issued a ruling in Ryan v. Gifford, C.A. No. 2213-CC (Del. Ch. Nov. 30, 2007) that runs afoul of current common practice in dealing with investigations performed by a Special Committee of the Board of Directors. Although the case involves stock option backdating, the rationale applies equally to any [...]

10b5-1 Plans Deserve Greater Scrutiny by Boards of Directors

July 2007 Stock option backdating scandals have grabbed headlines for quite some time. These scandals were initially identified by academic research that noted unexplained stock movements relative to option grant dates. A similar issue may exist with 10b5-1 plans. The volume of potential insider trading is substantial. For example, in late July, the former CEO [...]

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