NCJ Number
121478
Journal
Security Management Volume: 33 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1989) Pages: 163-166
Date Published
1989
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article provides guidelines on the right way and the wrong ways to locate and select professionals to conduct financial fraud investigations.
Abstract
A private firm whose employees are former agents from the Internal Revenue Service or the FBI, whose investigators are also attorneys or accountants, and whose staff has significant private-sector specialization and experience in investigating financial frauds is the firm to retain to conduct financial fraud audits and investigations. Such a firm or investigator can be located through the network developed among corporate security personnel, inside and outside counsel, bankers, and accountants. Outside accounting firms, security guard companies, and law firms generally do not employ personnel qualified to conduct financial fraud investigations. A confidential agreement should be signed with the firm or individual hired to protect the client from unauthorized disclosure of information by the investigator, establish standards for handling confidential documents, identify persons at the client's firm authorized to receive investigative results, and establish the attorney work product privilege if the investigative firm is retained by either inside or outside counsel. The investigative firm retained must have access to and use computerized investigative data bases. This article lists 24 indicia of financial fraud.