An inside job
16 Jan 2015New research has found that more than 80 per cent of frauds are committed by someone inside the firm, such as employees or subcontractors, rather than by an unknown person. Studies show that almost half of the most frequent types of insider activity are unauthorised disclosures of sensitive information, which could help outside parties gain […]
Tell-tale signs
12 Jan 2015With the holiday period firmly behind us, people are back at work and dreaming of the sun but could there be someone in the office who looks like they are on a permanent vacation and yet earns no more than their co-workers? If so, they might be perpetrating a fraud. Fraud costs businesses millions a […]
New forensic accountants to provide ‘fresh eyes’
22 Dec 2014The ex-wife of the late, bankrupt property tycoon Scot Young, who tragically fell to his death earlier this month, is looking for a “fresh pair of eyes” to search for the millions she is convinced were hidden during the couple’s divorce. Michelle Young accused her ex-husband of stashing away more than £400m during their bitter […]
Forensic investigation uncovered scale of Ponzi fraud
15 Dec 2014Three of Bernard Madoff’s aides were given prison sentences this week for their part in helping the Ponzi scheme fraudster steal as much as $20bn from investors. Daniel Bonventre, who ran Madoff’s broker-dealer unit for almost 40 years, was sentenced to 10 years behind bars earlier this week for helping to run the fraud but […]
Accounting differences, not fraud
08 Dec 2014There have been further developments in the long-running legal battle between Autonomy, the UK firm that was bought by Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011, and its buyer, with Autonomy’s founder citing a document he says shows differences in accounting standards, not fraud. Mike Lynch has said this week that allegations by HP of a £3bn fraud […]
Defence against too much
02 Dec 2014Although by any standards a divorce settlement of more than £337m could be judged a good result, what is being hailed as the largest settlement ever seen in a British court is actually less than the wife’s initial claim thanks to forensic investigators determining the actual amount of assets in dispute. The divorce of Sir […]
Investigation takes five years
21 Nov 2014The former Chief Executive of failed retailer JJB Sports has been convicted this week of a million pound fraud, following a five-year investigation, having been found guilty of receiving undeclared and dishonest cash payments from suppliers. Christopher Ronnie was convicted of three offences of fraud by failing to disclose his interests in JJB Sports contracts […]
Rank No Barrier To Forensic Investigation
18 Nov 2014A Spanish court said last week that it would uphold charges of tax fraud against Cristina de Borbon, the sister of King Felipe VI of Spain in an enquiry into corruption, paving the way for an unprecedented criminal trial. However, the High Court of Palma de Majorca added that it would drop charges of money […]
7 key differences between trial & confiscation by David Winch
03 Nov 2014In many respects confiscation proceedings exist in a different world from criminal trials. It is important that lawyers recognise this and adjust their approach to the work accordingly. This article points up, briefly and in the most general terms, seven key differences between Crown Court trials and confiscation proceedings. click here
He said, she said
31 Oct 2014A software tycoon described his ex-wife as a “psychopath” after a bitter row erupted over a family fortune, during which she claimed he had hidden assets, including the proceeds of the sale of two flats in North Africa. She went on to brand her former husband as “cruel, spiteful and wicked”, with her barrister claiming […]
NIFA Welcomes a new member Ensors Chartered Accountants
31 Oct 2014NIFA's newest member Ensors Chartered Accountants has offices in Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Ipswich, London and Saxmundham. Contact Fiona Hotston Moore fiona.hotstonmoore@ensors.co.uk who is a practising member of The Academy of Experts.
An even bigger hole uncovered
27 Oct 2014Now that the financial investigators looking into the overstatement of profits by Tesco plc have submitted their findings to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), further anomalies have been discovered, taking the overstatement to £263m, £13m more than was estimated a month ago. The investigation has revealed the escalation in the illusory profits that has taken […]
Investigations unsettle management structure
20 Oct 2014Continuing investigations into the £250m overstatement of Tesco’s first half profits appear to have caused turmoil at the top, with news of two more directors set to quit. The Company Secretary will leave early next year, having handed in his resignation shortly before the massive hole in the profits was discovered, while the audit committee […]
A Messi Business
10 Oct 2014Soccer star Lionel Messi is set to face trial for alleged tax fraud after a judge rejected his appeal to have the charges dropped on Friday. The judge ruled that Messi should have been aware of how his father was managing his financial affairs, meaning that a criminal case is likely to proceed against the […]
No hiding the distortions
06 Oct 2014Tesco’s recent accounting mis-statement shows how the mis-recording of revenues generally falls into one of two categories, which are either booking revenues earned in one quarter being moved forward or backward into another one, and fake sales. According to forensic investigators that have been brought in, the supermarket’s promotional deals with suppliers will have provided […]
Complicating the cost of divorce
26 Sep 2014Courts are finding it difficult to make judgments in the cases of estranged wives who become involved in new relationships while still fighting over money with their husbands. According to Mr Justice Mostyn, such relationships were “a significant fly in the ointment” for family court judges who are asked to decide how much money husbands […]
Forensic investigators keep bosses posted
23 Sep 2014The Post Office has been criticised recently for its handling of computer problems that led to a number of sub-postmasters being accused of theft and, in some cases, losing their livelihood, homes and even their liberty. Back in 2013, forensic investigators were appointed by the Post Office to explore accusations of serious flaws in the […]
Interpreting the evidence
12 Sep 2014As predicted, the case against former senior managers of Autonomy, the firm that was bought by Hewlett-Packard (HP) for $11bn (£6.7bn) in 2011 and then found to be heading for a ‘financial plane crash’, is hotting up. Now an email has come to light suggesting that Autonomy’s sales reps had ‘nothing to do’ as far […]
Little things mean a lot
11 Sep 2014A payroll administrator has just been jailed for four years after a routine audit uncovered a ‘small accounting discrepancy’, which then led to the discovery that the man had defrauded his company of £2.9m over several years. The employee, who had access to the payment processes of all the workers on the recruitment firm’s books, […]
Checking up on the details
02 Sep 2014According to research carried out last year, the construction industry was deliberately targeted by criminals perpetrating invoice fraud and one firm lost a staggering £1.1m this way, although the losses on average ranged between £95,000 and £160,000. Evidently, incurring such losses is hugely damaging to businesses and may even lead to insolvency for some firms, […]
Doing the diligence
26 Aug 2014News that Hewlett Packard (HP) has finally accused the former officials of a firm it bought in 2011 of fraud should serve as a reminder to any organisation thinking of purchasing another one to get their financial investigations done thoroughly by forensic accountants before they sign on the dotted line. HP acquired UK software company […]
Accounting detectives
25 Aug 2014It is a measure of how much financial investigation is part of the current mind-set when references to ‘bank account anomalies’ appear in popular TV shows. In the first episode of the BBC’s New Tricks series, which regularly pulls in 7 million viewers, the detectives investigating the theft of stolen jewellery looked into a suspect’s […]
More than number crunching
19 Aug 2014News that Terry Adams, former head of a north London criminal organisation, was turned down for a certificate of inadequacy to show he lacked the funds to meet his crime-linked debts, is evidence that forensic accountants do more than just number crunch when it comes to investigating suspected criminals’ hidden wealth. The Crown Prosecution Service […]
Messi investigation
12 Aug 2014A judge in Spain has rejected a prosecutor’s request to drop charges of tax fraud against Lionel Messi and has ordered the investigation into three cases of suspected unpaid taxes to proceed. A court statement said that there was "sufficient evidence" to believe that the Barca player "could have known and consented" to the creation […]
Forensic accountants expose ‘fraud, which is theft’
25 Jul 2014These are the words of Michelle Young, ex-wife of former property tycoon Scot Young, who even went to jail rather than disclose the whereabouts of his assets during their long and bitter divorce. Speaking to the Daily Mail last month in her first interview since a High Court judge agreed that Scot had lied about […]