Investigation

The chief was a thief

What tears at the fabric of a small town? Theft, betrayal and a loss of confidence in the very institutions that make the town a great place to live. This is the story of how a small gap became a gaping hole in oversight, management and internal controls, which resulted in a theft of more than $250,000.

Misplaced trust

The financial problems of church council members John Osborn and Mary Meyers motivated them to steal the church’s endowment funds. Here’s how the couple exploited their position of trust within the congregation to commit this devastating fraud.

To snare a menace

Identity theft attracts fraudsters because they can steal significant amounts with extreme anonymity, and victims and law enforcement can seldom pursue them. However, the authors describe an investigation that yielded the arrest and prosecution of a fraudster who used “synthetic identity theft” and other crimes to steal millions. Learn about their practical methods and a stunning twist.

Catch her if you can

Kathleen Daly, Ph.D., professor of criminology and criminal justice at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, coined the term “pink-collar crime” in her 1989 article, “Gender and varieties of white-collar crime,” in the academic journal, Criminology, to describe the growing number of lower- to mid-level office women — bookkeepers, office managers, accountants, clerks — who steal from their employers.

When the Wright Brothers became fraud examiners

The world knows Orville and Wilbur Wright as the team that designed, built and flew the first successful powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine. However, few know that Wilbur and his older brother, Lorin, once came to the aid of their father, Bishop Milton Wright, an itinerant “circuit” preacher, to expose suspected financial abuse in the United Brethren Church.

She-wolves in shepherd's clothing

Greed is everywhere. It pollutes all industries and organizations, including those dedicated to helping the poorest and most vulnerable of our society. And it breeds fraudsters within these organizations who have profound canniness and precisely zero moral queasiness when selecting their victims. Fraudsters like Emma and Kate.

Traditional investigative approaches in China can lead a company into a sinkhole

Guest columnists Howard Wang and Kent Kedl posit that traditional investigations don’t work well in China because of ingrained features of China’s business and legal environment. They suggest changes that will help foreigners in their fraud examinations.

More than words

Unaoil, a Monaco-based oil consulting company, was recently exposed in a media investigation for potentially supporting or facilitating bribes on behalf of large multinational firms in the oil and gas industry. The Unaoil case provides several lessons on using forensic email reviews to help gather evidence or indications of fraud, misconduct and regulatory non-compliance.

Blazing a trail for the Benford's Law of words, part 2

In part 2, the author applies his unique letter analytic techniques to a variety of examples, including keyword searches and predictive analysis using benchmark data. The aim? Finding fraud in the words.

Greedy company president sinks family-owned firm

In early 2013, employees of a trucking company were trying to use their health care benefits, but their doctors and hospitals were rejecting them. Their insurance carrier was denying their claims. Their paychecks showed their employer had been deducting their shares of medical insurance premiums, but their insurance cards were worthless.

How to write 'right'

Writing skills are essential in this profession. The most successful fraud examiners, investigators, attorneys and business people are those who can write clearly, articulately and persuasively using facts they’ve uncovered in the course of the fraud examination.

He fought Halliburton and won

Tony Menendez, CFE, found some questionable accounting practices at Halliburton. When he realized the company was knowingly violating Securities and Exchange Commission rules — and the SEC wasn’t going to investigate — he brought a whistleblower claim against Halliburton for violating his rights under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. After a nearly nine-year fight, he was vindicated.