If you have been lucky enough and attended basic accounting 201 and 202 classes, you will be very familiar with the words “dual control”. Everything related to financial transactions is subject to dual control. This means you should incorporate processes and procedures into your daily accounting function that does not give total control over your accounts receivables and accounts payables into the hands of one person.
Your business may not be large enough to have multiple employees who work in your accounting/book keeping department. Therefore you will most likely have one person “Your Book Keeper” who creates invoices being sent to your customers, receipts the cash, check or credit card transactions from your customers for payment of these transactions, reconciles your checking accounts, your credit card statements, orders supplies, orders inventory parts and then pays for the parts and the supplies. Maybe this person also handles the payroll and pays expense reports. Now, one thing he/she probably doesn’t do is sign the actual checks. Well, good for you since at least you have one control in place.
If this description of your book keepers job description matches one that you currently deploy, trouble is brewing on the horizon. But why do you care since you are still drawing a pay check. Oh but wait, this is your company, you are responsible for everything in the end. But you as the owner of this small company are so busy with networking, generating sales leads, managing your operations, dealing with unhappy clients, exploring new business opportunities you couldn’t possibly spend time supervising your book keeper too. Besides, Mary Beth has been with your company for the last 5 years. She has always done an excellent job.
But today is the day when you will receive that call from a customer who doesn’t understand why you have run his credit card multiple times for a transaction. Or maybe the bank calls and tells you that your account is overdrawn. Or your vendor contacts you about unpaid invoices. Or you apply for a loan and you need to provide financial statements but the numbers don’t add up.
You realize that something is not right and the need for an internal theft investigation has arrived. Although you are good at what you do in your business, you don’t know how to even begin to conduct an internal theft investigation. So what is the first thing you need to do to un-do these events and get to the bottom of this situation? An internal theft investigation will include quietly compiling evidence of any fraudulent transactions, controlling your emotions and obtaining professional help.
For more information about internal theft investigations, contact us or call 1.770.913.2467 – Atlanta Georgia
In order to be a successful corporate fraud investigator, you may need skills you aren’t aware of. It takes more than private investigator criminal catching know-how to be on the team that investigates corporate fraud. There are a variety of crimes investigated by these individuals that range from tax evasion to embezzlement.
Corporate fraud crimes have a different scope, complexity and magnitude than your common everyday theft or fraud case contains. The ramifications can have economic consequences for employees and communities and can often affect the entire investment market.
A corporate fraud investigator needs to have accounting expertise. Corporate accounting can have infinite intricacies in the book keeping methods they use. Not only does the investigator need accounting know how, but a vase computer knowledge is needed to be able to manipulate complicated accounting software.
The corporate fraud investigator will also need to be a bit of a computer “hacker”. Often important documents have been password protected or encrypted to prevent detection.
According to several online sources and our own peoples experience, corporate fraud investigators will have anywhere between five and twenty-five years of experience. Rates are dependent on the experience level of the individual.
Want an expert corporate fraud investigator? Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
Insurance scams are a leaving corporate fraud problem in the United States. Insurance Fraud is intentionally obtaining funds from an insurance company for a purposeful act that is fraudulent. These types of frauds not only cost companies billions of dollars annually, but can affect the lives of innocent by standers as well. The Coalition against Insurance Fraud estimates that in 2006 a total of about $80 billion was lost in the United States due to insurance fraud.
Let’s look at an example of corporate fraud that affects the insurance market. People have faked their death to benefit from life insurance. In 2002, a gentleman named John Darwin supposedly died in a canoeing accident. Well, in 2007 he turned up claiming no memory of the last 5 years.
Medical disability is also one of the leading corporate fraud scams for insurance companies and worker’s compensation. Say an employee is able to convince a medical professional they are unable to work due to an injury they sustained while on the job. Not only is the company out worker’s compensation monies, but the government is out disability funds if they employee claims they cannot ever work! My dream job would be follow these folks around that are capable of holding a job but defrauding the government for disability and take photos of them roofing their house or shopping for shoes for 12 hours.
Corporate fraud in the insurance market is one of the hardest to prove. Do you think your corporation, insurance company or otherwise, have been the victim of Fraud? Contact us call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia