Cases of financial fraud often focus on the core issue of where the money went. Successfully carrying out a fraud scheme involves not only taking the money, but covering up the fraud and hiding the money trail. But skilled financial investigators know there is always a trail, and while the …
In this short video, Tracy talks about some of the services a forensic accountant could provide in a bankruptcy case. These services could include: Tracing of funds through bank accounts Looking for hidden income and assets Evaluating expenditures to determine whether they were proper (as it relates to the bankruptcy) …
Why specialize when you’re a forensic accountant? Forensic accounting is already a specialty within the broader field of accounting, so some people never consider that you can narrow down your practice even more. We focus on investigating numbers, but that doesn’t mean we have to do every sort of investigation …
When the IRS believes a taxpayer has unreported income, they will use alternative methods to attempt to determine the true income. One of those methods is the Expenditures Method. Tracy Coenen explains the basic methodology in this video. Note that this method of calculating income can be used in a …
Taxes: You’re guilty until you prove yourself innocent. That’s the way it works with the Internal Revenue Service. You have to be able to prove the numbers on your income tax return. If you can’t, the IRS auditor will pick a number and it’s up to you to prove them …
When an internal fraud (one committed by employees) occurs at a company, the natural reaction is to assume that an investigation must be started immediately. After all, it is important to determine who was involved, exactly how the fraud was committed and covered up, and what evidence exists to prove …
Schemes that involve the skimming of money are very difficult to detect, investigate, and ultimately prove. These types of schemes are carried out before money is recorded in a company’s accounting system. Because of this “off-books” nature of the crime, little to no trail is created for investigators to follow. …
Financial expert witnesses are the key to helping judges understand complex financial issues. It is imperative that the judge understand accounting and finance scenarios if you are to succeed in court. Tracy Coenen and Miles Mason discuss how your expert witness can help judges understand.
Complex financial investigations involve large sets of data, numerous accounts, multiple players, and lightning fast movements of money. Being able to accurately document these movements of money is the key to the financial portion of a case, whether it involves embezzlement, bribery, misconduct in office, money laundering, or divorce. Forensic …
When investigating fraud, I often find it useful to perform analytical review on the financial statements of a company. Even when management is certain that they know where the fraud occurred within the accounting system, analytical review can help identify unsual things about the numbers that may warrant further investigation. …