Fraud and White Collar Crime Investigations
Fraud has always been the bane of
business organizations and investors alike.However, in recent years the size and scope of reported frauds,
especially financial statement fraud and management fraud, have raised the
awareness fraud, as well as highlighted the social and economic impact of
fraud.
Organizations
are increasingly required to not only take steps to minimize and prevent fraud,
but to also to appropriately address concerns or allegations of fraud within
their organization.The investigation of
complex financial crimes within an organization, regardless of whether it is in
a regulated industry or SEC registrant, takes the careful and coordinated
expertise of legal professionals as well as forensic accountants.
At Tauber & Balser, P.C., our
Forensic Accounting practice group professionals have conducted over 50 fraud
or white-collar crime investigations.The results of our findings have provided our client and legal counsel
with the critical information they needed to make informed decisions and to
formulate reaction strategies in a timely manner.
Some representative engagements
of fraud investigations performed by members of our professional staff include:
Packaging
Company
-
A
venture capital firm purchased a corrugated box manufacturing business, with
three plant locations.The purchaser was
alarmed that the profitability of the company decreased significantly after the
acquisition.Based on concerns and
allegations that the former owner was misappropriating cash and assets, we were
retained to investigate the events surrounding certain activities and
transactions.We identified a pattern of
conduct and a series of transactions resulting in personal benefit to the
former owner that were misrepresented in the accounting records as business
expenses.Additionally, the revenues
were overstated through a bill and hold scheme in order to achieve an
earn-out benchmark.The matter settled
after filing an initial action to recover damages.
Property
Management Investigation
-
The
new President of a property management company had heard repeated
allegations from former employees that the senior asset manager was
defrauding many of the large commercial office buildings under his
supervision.Based on our
investigation we identified and quantified various transactions and
arrangements where the senior asset manager had entered into transactions
with related parties for goods and services that were not provided.The related party transactions generated
payments of approximately $1.8 million to 25 fictitious vendors set up by
the asset manager.Based on the
results of our findings the participants in the scheme were terminated and
a significant portion of the losses were recovered from the insurance
carrier.
Bank Investigations
-
The
Minister of Finance for Jamaica
was concerned about the events surrounding the failure of various banks and
insurance companies.The regulators were
required to seize control of the financial institutions due to non-compliance
with capital levels, qualified investments and liquidity ratios.The investigative role of the forensic
accountants included conducting interviews, coordinating investigative efforts
and preparing reports that summarized our findings.In addition to the regulatory compliance
issues, we identified and investigated fraudulent and related party
transactions that contributed to the collapse of the financial institutions.
For
further information contact:
Paul Dopp404-814-4988
Karen
Fortune404-814-4968
Richard
Millman 404-814-4905
Mark
Murovitz 404-814-4940
Howard
Zandman404-814-4915
