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Monthly Archives: April 2015

We have distilled decades of experience at the intersection of law, business and finance into a suite of articles to help our clients make sense of business valuation, forensic accounting, and litigation support. Please visit our site regularly for our latest content.

Types of Fraud in Business

Posted in Financial Advisory, on Apr 2015, By: Mark S. Gottlieb

Under former Attorney General Eric Holder’s leadership, the US Justice Department drastically increased its fight against fraud, bringing in more than $24 billion in penalties. This substantial sum came mainly from the department’s pursuit of big banks for financial misconduct. Yet it also increased its crackdown on smaller instances of fraud. Fraud is prevalent in many facets of life, particularly within businesses. This swindling can come in many forms and eats away at a business’s funds. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), on average, businesses lose 5% of revenue each year to fraud. Additionally, 22% of the cases examined by the ACFE involved losses of at least $1 million. Therefore business owners, attorneys, and investigators should know what types of fraud occur, how to look for them, and how to prevent them. Asset Misappropriation Fraud  To put it plainly, asset misappropriation takes place when someone steals funds from his employer. Asset misappropriation constitutes the most common type of fraud affecting businesses. What follows is a list of the most commonly encountered forms of asset misappropriation, ways to discover them, and methods of prevention. Authorized Maker An authorized maker is a person with the power to create and sign checks for a company. In this scheme, the authorized maker creates a check payable to himself, or one that pays his expenses, later altering the payee name in the accounting records to make the disbursement look like it was made to an authentic vendor. This scheme can be recognized […]