Throughout our personal and business lives we are exposed to deception. Here are a few pointers in getting to the truth. To tell a lie requires cognitive effort and over-control of behaviours. The physiological changes that emerge and that the deceptor tries to quell are: Heart rate Blood pressure Breath rate Pitch and speed of…
Read MoreThese cases though widely known of are unfortunately still commonplace. The fraudster manages to change the bank payment details of a legitimate supplier so that the payment is diverted to the fraudster. They do this by sending forged or altered versions of legitimate documents, invoices and/or emails that then flow through the organisation’s normal payment…
Read MoreTo truly understand and quantify a disputed amount we go beyond examining the detail to question the underlying assumptions and identify the relevant facts. Let’s look at each of the 4 key steps in any investigation: 1. Identify the Type of Fraud The initial stages of the investigation are the most important. There are so…
Read MoreYou might have a clean audit opinion but material weakness in your internal control function… It’s better to check it out. What is a Clean Audit Opinion? The opinion of a company’s auditors that its financial statements are fairly presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. What is Internal Control? Internal control is a…
Read MoreAs a fraud examiner, we consider the Fraud Triangle:- Pressure Opportunity Rationalisation In 2008 a Harvard Business School professor, Eugene Soltes examined this question and in 2016 published a book on the subject. He found that middle management and employees further down the corporate ladder might commit fraud because they found a ready source of…
Read MoreThe starting point for such an investigation is gathering all the payments to suppliers preferably over a number of years. We then sort this information to enable us to review trends in the payment history. Once this data is gathered, sorted and reviewed we carry out the following procedures. 1. Background checks on the suppliers…
Read MoreWhat is a ghost employee? A ghost employee is someone being paid on the payroll who doesn’t actually work for the company. Through false payroll records a fraudster can pay a ghost employee. The ghost employee may be a false person or a real individual who simply doesn’t work for the employer. How does ghost…
Read MoreOur forensic accounting team use our skills in accounting, auditing, taxation, law and investigation to interpret the data available and deliver a concise report suitable for discussion, debate and ultimately as evidence in court. We deliver focused investigations using our knowledge of auditing, personal forensic accounting, taxation, company law, banking facilities and industry sectorial knowledge.…
Read MoreUnfortunately, we are seeing more of this type of scam. What it involves is a fraudster providing their bank details to a company when a payment to a supplier/third party is being made. Examples: 1. Company A seeks to make a payment to a supplier or a third party in a transaction. The fraudster has…
Read MoreUnethical business behaviour directly or indirectly accounts for major losses – between 2% and 5% turnover, and severely damages the reputation and morale of companies. It is one of the largest unmanaged risks in companies today. Here are 10 simple steps that every business owner should implement to prevent fraud: Perform background checks on employees.…
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