Fraud and Internal Investigations

Prevention, Detection, Deterrence, Examination

Fraud negatively impacts an organization in many ways; fraudulent activity can damage an organization’s reputation and undermine a company’s financial security. On its face, most individuals see the damage incurred by fraudulent activity measured in terms of monetary loss which, depending on the size of the fraud can be significant. However, the full cost of fraud is immeasurable in terms of time, productivity, and loss of reputation. Therefore, it is important for organizations to implement a “Fraud Program” that includes awareness, detection and prevention.

Combating fraud before it occurs is vital to the survival of any business. Organizations should take the opportunity to consider, enact and improve measures to detect, deter and prevent fraud before it occurs. A combined effort must be made by the board of directors, the audit committee, internal and external auditors, risk management personnel, investigators, operations personnel and others to manage the risk of fraud.

Prevention

Virtually every entity suffers from fraud, though management might not know it. With fraud costing entities an estimated 5 percent of their annual revenues, organizations lacking proactive fraud prevention measures are the most at risk. The professionals at the Ingenium Consulting Group will show you why traditional internal controls can be ineffective in preventing many frauds and how to combat fraud more effectively and economically. We can show you leading techniques to manage the risk of fraud and cut its ongoing cost for all types of entities.

Detection

Fraud is a billion-dollar business and it is increasing every year. The PwC Global Economic Crime Survey of 2016 suggests that close to 36 percent of organizations worldwide have reported being victims of economic crime in the past year. Economic crime is ever-evolving, and becoming a more complex issue for organizations and economies. The regulatory landscape is also changing, bringing with it numerous challenges to doing business.

Fraud involves one or more persons who intentionally act secretly to deprive another of something of value, for their own benefit. Fraud is as old as humanity itself and can take an unlimited variety of different forms. However, in recent years, the development of new technologies has also provided further ways in which criminals may commit fraud. In addition to that, business re-engineering, reorganization or downsizing may weaken or eliminate control, while new information systems may present additional opportunities to commit fraud.

Fraud that involves cell phones, insurance claims, tax return claims, credit card transactions etc. represent significant problems for governments and businesses, but yet detecting and preventing fraud is not a simple task. Fraud is an adaptive crime, so it needs special methods of intelligent data analysis to detect and prevent it.

Our investigative teams at the Ingenium Consulting have the expertise to successfully complete these complex and time-consuming investigations that deal with different domains of knowledge like financial, economics, business practices and law often required to successfully solve this problem.

  • Identify the point of loss
  • Identify potential suspects
  • Quantify the losses
  • Work with attorneys, insurance companies, and other investigators to help you recover your losses.

Deterrence

Fraud is a significant business risk that must be mitigated. A well-designed and implemented fraud detection program, based on transactional data analysis of operational systems, can significantly reduce the chance of fraud occurring within an organization. The sooner that indicators of fraud are discovered, the greater the chance that losses can be recovered and control weaknesses can be addressed. Effective detection techniques serve as a deterrent to potential fraudsters – employees who know that experts are present and looking for fraud or that continuous monitoring is occurring are less likely to commit fraud because of a greater perceived likelihood that they will be caught.

Given increased regulatory requirements and compliance demands, the decision is no longer if an organization should implement a complete fraud detection and prevention program, but rather how quickly that program can be put into place. The experts at the Ingenium Consulting Group can help you institute a proactive program to combat fraud in your organization.

 Examination

Everyday across the world, thousands of businesses are victimized by fraud. Who commits these bad acts? Why? And, how? In this course we are going to help you answer the questions: who commits fraud, why and how. We’ll also help you develop skills for catching them.

Fraud examination is a methodology for resolving fraud allegations from inception to disposition. More specifically, fraud examination involves obtaining evidence and taking statements, writing reports, testifying to findings, and assisting in the detection and prevention of fraud.

Fraud is difficult to detect because fraudsters are clever people. They figure out ways to circumvent laws, rules, regulations, policies and procedures. This is why traditional audits only find a small portion of the fraud that occurs. Auditors are verifying the accuracy of financial statements, not necessarily looking for fraud. This is where fraud examiners come in. They design procedures to actively look for fraud in an organization, and when they find it, they dig deeper to find all the evidence and build a case against the perpetrators.

Let the professionals at the Ingenium Consulting Group help deter fraud in your organization. Our fraud investigators receive special training in the latest techniques of fraud detection in addition to their extensive experience combating fraud.

Until recently, training was almost totally on the job; now there is a certification program. It is called A Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). The (CFE) is a credential awarded by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). The ACFE association is a provider of anti-fraud training and education. Together with more than 80,000 members, the ACFE seeks to reduce business fraud world-wide and to inspire public confidence in the integrity and objectivity within the profession. CFE training involves imparting knowledge of complex financial transactions and understanding of forensic methods, law, and of how to resolve allegations of fraud. Fraud examiners are trained to understand how and why fraud occurs.

The Certified Fraud Examiner credential requires ongoing continuing education. As training continues to evolve and new and more sophisticated techniques are developed, fraud examination will become more scientific and fraud schemes will be easier to detect using the right procedures. At the Ingenium Consulting Chicago, our experienced fraud investigators are

If we can be of service combating fraud in your organization, please Ingenium Consulting Chicago for a free confidential consultation.