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
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.
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 […]
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 […]
Expert forensic accountants can help prevent fraud
21 Jul 2014It was announced earlier this week that the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) has written off the £1.1m losses it incurred when it was the victim of mandate fraud but that it is now setting up an in-house team to target financial crime prevention. Forensic accountants are generally thought of as being the experts that […]
Director Ban Increase Could Lead To Forensic Accountancy Need
14 Jul 2014With an increase in directors in England, Wales and Scotland being disqualified by the Insolvency Service this year, there may be more need for forensic accountants to investigate alleged fraudulent or wrongful trading. Figures from the Government body show that the number of directors being disqualified has increased by 25 per cent since last year, […]
Agreement Comes About Through Forensic Accounting
30 Jun 2014Following encouragement by the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), eight major grocers have made voluntary commitments to put a time limit on forensic investigations of suppliers' accounts that have sometimes seen questionable demands made of suppliers over historic rebates or payments. The move comes after the new Groceries Code Adjudicator, Christine Tacon, found that supermarkets and […]
A Need For Forensic Accountants
20 Jun 2014According to a report from the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat, the UK has the highest divorce rate in the European Union, with 2.8 divorces per 1,000 marriages, compared with just 0.6 per 1,000 in Luxembourg. Since divorce settlements almost inevitably involve financial arrangements, this means that more people in the UK will probably need the […]
Forensic Accountants Will Act Quickly
13 Jun 2014One of the proposed legal reforms announced in the Queen’s Speech last week was a crackdown on organised crime, involving the strengthening of the laws on recovering criminal assets. The Serious Crime Bill 2014, which is expected to come into effect next year, will, amongst other things, cover restraint orders, assets belonging to a person […]
Forensic Accountants Unravel The Knots
10 Jun 2014A wealthy former model turned fashion director, who was awarded £32m when she divorced her first husband, has just had her second husband jailed for contempt of court. Following her divorce in 2004 from co-founder of French Connection, Stephen Marks, with whom she had three children, Alisa Thiry married Belgian businessman and property magnate Didier […]
Forensic Accountants Give Football Club A Sporting Chance
02 Jun 2014The owner of Leeds United FC has called in a team of forensic accountants to get to the bottom of financial chaos at the club after being told that its finances were “the worst mess” his advisors had ever seen. Forensic accountants are often called in when a business’ finances are in a mess, as […]
Fighting Fraud With Forensic Accountants
23 May 2014Recent research has found that over a third of insurance intermediaries expect the problem of fraud facing the insurance industry to worsen over the next three to five years, with one of the biggest problems being the huge increase in data that firms have to manage. However, if a firm suspects fraud, the analysis of […]