Witnesses For The Defence – 17 Feb 2014
17 Feb 2014If ever anyone needed expert witnesses on their side, it must be the Infanta Cristina, daughter of King Juan Carlos of Spain, who appeared in court last weekend to face questions over an alleged financial scandal involving her husband, the Duke of Palma. Inaki Urdangarin has already been charged with fraud, tax evasion, falsifying documents […]
Experts at finding evidence – 10 Feb 2014
10 Feb 2014Forensic accountants have been in the news recently, as their expert services have been used by supermarkets which fear that they have overpaid suppliers in the past and need proof of transactions going back as far as six years. However, when describing the supermarkets’ policy, the Groceries Code Adjudicator seems to see it as a […]
More Money Needed To Combat Defence’s Forensic Accountants – 3 Feb 2014
03 Feb 2014The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has this week asked the Government for more money to help it press on with its cases against people and firms it suspects of serious financial misconduct. The SFO’s budget has fallen from £52m to £28m this year but it has the power to ask for extra ‘blockbuster’ funding when […]
Fraud Down Last Year – 24 Jan 2014
24 Jan 2014The analysis of fraud trends during 2013 by the UK's Fraud Prevention Service (CIFAS) reveals that, overall, fraud levels decreased in 2013 by 11 per cent from the levels recorded in 2012, the first year on year drop since 2010, but they remain at a much higher rate than in pre-recessionary times. The decrease, however, suggests […]
Ecclestone To Face Trial In Germany – 20 January 2014
20 Jan 2014The fact that Bernie Ecclestone is back in the news over the sale of part of his F1 empire is a reminder that company valuations must be transparent. In addition to now facing a trial in Germany in April, the 83-year-old is currently awaiting a High Court judge’s ruling in a separate £90m civil claim […]
Forensic Accountants Aid Settlement – 9 January 2014
09 Jan 2014Forensic accountants often only make the headlines when they uncover vast amounts of hidden money, such as when they pulled £45m of assets out of bankrupt former tycoon Scot Younger’s ‘hat’ in his bitter divorce hearing. However, when two parties fail to reach an agreement in a commercial dispute, which could be anything from a […]
Demand For Forensic Accountants – 6 January 2014
06 Jan 2014The Financial Times pointed out in an article this month that accounting fraud remains “one of the most critical and prevalent issues facing the financial industry”, and highlighted the need for forensic accountancy in suspected cases and regular forensic auditing to keep on top of complex finances. Forensic accountants work in financial hubs across the […]
Forensic Accountants Needed To Unravel Complex Finance – 25 November 2013
13 Dec 2013Lawyers acting for the ex-wife of former tycoon Scot Young have had to engage the services of an experienced forensic accountant as the best means of proving that he actually does have the money to pay the settlement she is seeking. Mr Young, who was jailed earlier this year for “flagrant and deliberate” contempt of […]
Taxman Cracking Down – 12 November 2013
13 Dec 2013With the taxman cracking down increasingly on evasion and fraud, the chances are that more businesses than ever could be caught up in the investigation net, even those that have not necessarily done anything wrong. If this happens to a business owner and they are accused of tax fraud, the first action should be to […]
Obvious Assets That Can’t Be Found – 26 November 2013
13 Dec 2013A judge has slammed prosecutors who have been unable to find luxury cars, including a Ferrari Spider and Bentley Continental, despite the fact that, as he said, they are “probably being driven around Mayfair”. Speaking in the confiscation case of a jailed drugs baron in London yesterday (November 21), Nicholas Evans asked the prosecutors to […]
Investigative Accountants Find Missing £40m – 3 December 2013
13 Dec 2013An investigative team working on behalf of the ex-wife of former ‘fixer’ Scott Young have found sufficient evidence of a fortune of £45m that a judge was able to award Michelle Young £20m in a ruling that is a culmination of a bitter legal battle over Mr Young’s fortune. However, Mrs Young is said to […]
Forensic Accountants Stay Ahead Of The Game – 13 December 2013
13 Dec 2013With new apps and software updates coming out all the time, it is no surprise that the world of forensic accounting, which relies increasingly on technology to make its investigations, is also making full use of the advances. A whole range of crimes can use digital forensic methods to prove innocence or secure a conviction, […]
Forensic Accountants Unearthed Original Anomalies – 6 December 2013
13 Dec 2013It was announced this week that a further charge has been made against five people in connection with alleged fraudulent activity at welfare to work company A4E, where forensic accountants first found “systemic fraud” in 2009. A routine internal audit found evidence of staff claiming for putting people forward for jobs that did not exist or […]
Online Fraud On The Up – 29 October 2013
29 Oct 2013According to new research more than 230,000 frauds were recorded in England and Wales in the year to June, which represents an increase of more than a fifth on the previous 12 months and a 59 per cent increase in five years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that a further 316 frauds were […]
Who Else Made Off With the Money? – 22 October 2013
22 Oct 2013When Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in jail for perpetrating one of the biggest frauds in history, he shocked the financial world even more when he claimed that he had acted completely alone. However, US investigators are finally about to start a trial in the case of five former employees who are accused […]
What A Fine Messi – 4 October 2013
04 Oct 2013The first appearances of football legend Lionel Messi and his father, Jorge, outside court last week in Barcelona looked more like a political rally than a tax evasion trial, with fans crowding outside the court shouting their support for the Argentine superstar. Messi Junior and Senior are jointly charged with defrauding the Spanish state of […]
Britain Losing Billions Through Fraud – 1 October 2013
01 Oct 2013According to a recent survey, the UK is losing billions of pounds to fraud every year and since the start of the recession the level of fraud has risen by 20 per cent. The survey, which studied fraud data from around the world over the last 15 years, has estimated around £85 billion of the […]
SFO’s First Prosecution Under UK Bribery Act – 27 September 2013
27 Sep 2013The first defendants to be prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) under the UK?Bribery Act appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court yesterday (September 23). The SFO had charged the four men connected to Sustainable AgroEnergy with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and conspiracy to furnish false information in relation to the sale of […]
Evidence For The Defence Required – 9 September 2013
09 Sep 2013News that the serious Fraud Office (SFO) has this week charged Olympus with making misleading statements to an auditor means that the camera and medical equipment firm will have to find evidence in its defence. This means that both sides will almost certainly engage the services of a team of forensic accountants as part of […]
Found Out! – 6 September 2013
03 Sep 2013A judge in the High Court has ordered a divorce settlement to be renegotiated after a London businessman was found to have lied about his wealth when the settlement was originally made. In a landmark ruling, Sir Paul Coleridge ordered the settlement to be ripped up after the man, dubbed a “master of the half […]
Time Serving – 28 August 2013
28 Aug 2013Simon Cowell’s pregnant lover, Lauren Silverman, has just been granted a ‘quickie’ divorce in the States from her husband of 10 years and it is alleged that she waited until their tenth wedding anniversary before telling him that she wanted to split, in the hopes of a larger financial settlement from their prenuptial agreement. As […]
Finding the Money – 3 September 2013
28 Aug 2013The National Audit Office has recently announced that it will be publishing a report later this year on the management and enforcement of confiscation orders, which usually requires the services of a forensic accountant to evaluate how much they should be, although they also follow the money trail in many other matters. Confiscation orders, which are […]
Forensic Audits For Private Security Firms – 12 August 2013
12 Aug 2013News that private security company G4S has this week withdrawn its bid for a £150m electronic tagging contract with the Government will come as little surprise, as the firm has been accused of overcharging on a previous contract by tens of millions of pounds. Justice Minister Chris Grayling decided to instigate a forensic audit of […]
On The Defensive – 22 July 2013
22 Jul 2013Bribery allegations have been in the news this week, with GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) finance chief in China being refused permission to leave the country while an investigation is being carried out into the firm’s Chinese operation, and Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone being charged with bribery in Germany over the sale of a stake in F1 […]
Investigators Find Bugs That May Have Cost People’s Freedom – 16 July 2013
16 Jul 2013The Post Office has this week revealed the results of an independent investigation, which proved there were software defects in its Horizon computer system, potentially leading to false claims against sub-postmasters, who, in some cases, went to jail for fraud, theft or false accounting. More than a 100 sub-postmasters claim to have been wrongly prosecuted […]