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American businesses are plagued by many forms of fraud. Among the worst culprits is expense report cheating. Although median losses associated with individual incidents are low compared with those of financial statement, inventory and other types of fraud, falsified expense reports are dangerous because they rarely occur in isolation. Expense reimbursement cheating often is a sign of larger cultural problems — such as lax enforcement or management overrides of internal controls. Popular schemes Expense reimbursement fraud generally takes the following forms: Altered receipts. An employee changes a receipt or other documentation to show a higher expense than he or she […]

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How experts gather facts and get to the truth All too often, companies defrauded by employees attempt to solve the problem internally. Whether motivated by cost concerns or the desire to keep occupational fraud incidents quiet, owners and managers may even conduct employee interviews themselves. This usually is a mistake. Not only are forensic accounting experts experienced at eliciting confessions from guilty parties, but they’re also better able to extract vital information from witnesses, who may be reluctant to “squeal” on a co-worker in the presence of their boss. So when a client suspects fraud, your first step should be […]

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Suffolk Lawyer: The Role of the Forensic Accountant in Litigation More [+]

Not all organizational frauds are the same. There are certain types of fraudulent activities that can be perpetrated against a victim organization that are not easily detected by analyzing the books and records of the entity. A type of fraud that fits this description is skimming. Skimming is defined by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) as “a scheme in which an incoming payment is stolen from an organization before it is recorded on the organization’s books and records”. For example, Company ABC’s employee sells a customer a product or service for cash, and then places the receipts in […]

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Gettry Marcus’ Certified Fraud Examiners present the second in a multi-part series devoted to Fraud Prevention and Detection. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), a leading organization in the area of fraud prevention and detection, publishes biennially a comprehensive study of fraud in the workplace. The Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse – 2014 Global Fraud Study is based on 1,483 cases of occupational fraud, as reported by the Certified Fraud Examiners who investigated them. The ACFE defines occupational fraud as – “The use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication […]

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Gettry Marcus shares US Law Firm Trends: 2014 More [+]

Fraud Prevention Check-Up More [+]

Written by: Mark S. Warshavsky, CPA/ABV/CFF, CVA, CBA, ASA, CFE, MAFF, DABFA, MBA For many attorneys, retaining the services of forensic accountants has become an integral part of resolving their clients’ legal disputes, either before or during litigation.This need for forensic accountants in litigation matters is a result of financial issues that require specialized knowledge in multiple financial disciplines that a forensic accountant possesses. Attorneys can use forensic accountants to assist in translating complex financial issues into a more understandable manner. Frequently, these financial issues are a key factor in the ultimate outcome of the lawsuit. In today’s computerized society, […]

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Occupational frauds are estimated to last a median of 18 months before being detected.  That and other findings are reported in the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (“ACFE”) 2012 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, based upon the organization’s global survey (“2012 Survey”).  This article highlights the information provided in the 2012 Survey, which may be helpful to companies seeking to identify and limit fraud. Do Perpetrators Have Common Traits? The results of the ACFE surveys tend to be consistent from year to year with respect to the demographics of fraud perpetrators.  According to the ACFE, the […]

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Is it possible that 5% of your company’s revenues are lost to fraud every year? That and other alarming findings are reported in the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (“ACFE”) 2012 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, based upon the organization’s global survey (“2012 Survey”). This article highlights the information provided in the 2012 Survey regarding the types of frauds most commonly committed, and how frauds are typically detected. Nature of Occupational Fraud While the median loss from occupational fraud is $140,000, more than one-fifth of frauds cause losses of at least $1 million. The ACFE research […]

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