Governance, Fraud, & Corporate Culture: Sorting Through a Complicated Relationship
I recall being asked to perform a cultural risk assessment in late 2004 because certain members of a client company’s board of directors were concerned about communication and information flow. Specifically, they wanted to know if issues were being raised timely and appropriately and not extinguished by mid-level managers. The board and senior management were not concerned about fraud or ethical violations, even though some events should have caused concern.
Red Flags That May Indicate You Might be at Risk of Violating FCPA
In 2020, the DOJ and SEC brought FCPA enforcement actions against 12 companies and imposed financial penalties totaling a record $6.4 billion. For a comparison, in 2019, 14 companies paid a (then) record $2.9 billion to resolve FCPA cases.Are you exposed?
First Civil Settlement for Fraud on Cares Act Paycheck Protection Program
On January 12, 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced the first civil settlement with a borrower for allegedly committing fraud in obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") loan, in violation of the False Claims Act ("FCA") and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act ("FIRREA").The FCA allows the government to recover damages and penalties for presenting false claims for payment to the United States. FIRREA allows the government to impose civil penalties for violations of enumerated federal criminal statutes, including those that affect federally-insured financial
Still time to join us on February 23-25! Baker Tilly’s 1st Annual Virtual Fraud and Compliance Summit
We are introducing our first annual virtual Baker Tilly Fraud and Compliance Summit, hosted by Jonathan T. Marks, who leads Baker Tilly’s Global Forensic, Compliance, and Integrity Services Practice.
2020 Top 10 Articles on Fraud, Compliance, and Risk Management
Happy New Year, and thank you to the more than 100,000 people that visited Board and Fraud in 2020! With everything that happened last year, fraud, compliance, and risk management have arguably become more important than ever.
SEC Sends Message about Being Honest and Transparent Regarding the Effects of COVID-19
The Properly Designed Exit Interview a Necessary Step in Uncovering Ethical Violations
Herbalife - “Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes” - Translated: Who Will Guard the Guards Themselves, or Who will Watch the Watchmen?
Herbalife's business relationship in China was committed to illegal activity, which it knew or should have known violated the FCPA. Specifically, beginning in late 2006, Herbalife China provided improper benefits and payments to government officials to obtain direct selling licenses for two cities. Herbalife paid out millions of dollars in bribes. Fraudulent expense reimbursements were used to fund the bribes, which is is a common tactic for these types of bribes.Specifically, the SEC found that Herbalife China paid bribes through extravagant meals, gifts, and other benefits given to Chinese officials to obtain sales licenses and remove negative media coverage in China. Managers at the subsidiary asked employees to falsify expense report documents, for example, adding names to meal receipts to get below the company's per head spending limit. It also found that the payments and benefits were inaccurately recorded and that Herbalife failed to maintain a sound system of internal controls.
SEC and its New Silent Whistleblower: Risk Based Data Analytics
The SEC just announced its first actions arising from investigations generated by the Enforcement Division's EPS (Earnings Per Share) Initiative, which utilizes risk-based data analytics to uncover potential accounting and disclosure violations caused by, among other things, earnings management practices.
New Corporate Compliance Guidance by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is Coming Soon!
Are you ready? New EU Whistleblower Protection Law!
Soon all public and private organizations in the EU with more than fifty (50) employees will soon be required to comply with a new EU Whistleblower Protection law. The new law highlights the importance of responsive, transparent, and timely whistleblowing case management. So just implementing a hotline is not enough. Organizations must consider confidentiality, acknowledgment of the tip or compliant, response times, the competence of persons receiving the reports, communication with the whistleblower, and feedback on how the case is being processed. The new law also includes the right to report concerns externally while remaining legally protected. That's a risk organizations must avoid. With the December 2021 deadline fast approaching, there is no better time for management and boards to act. Read more!
Webinar - July 28, 2020 - Best Practices for Conducting Remote Internal Investigations
In this pandemic era, global companies have been challenged to maintain a reliable and effective internal investigation program. Companies have relied on remote investigation strategies to collect and review documents and conduct interviews. In conducting remote investigations, companies have to ensure that they follow investigation requirements, maintain the confidentiality of the process, and comply with applicable data privacy rules and security requirements.In this webinar, Jessica Sanderson, Partner at The Volkov Law Group, and Jonathan T. Marks, Partner| Leader of the Global Forensic Investigation, COmpliance & Integrity Practice at Baker Tilly, will discuss best practices for conducting remote internal investigations. They will outline strategies for collecting and reviewing documents, analyzing financial data, and conducting interviews using remote technologies.
Whistleblowers: Tipsters not trusting the system?
Whistleblowers: Tipsters not trusting the system? Here's how to win them back.Anonymous hotlines and tip-reporting structures are useless, of course, if informants don’t trust them. Employees won’t blow the whistle if they fear reprisals. So, their concerns often don’t enter case-management systems and frauds continue. Here’s how to earn back their trust, take them seriously and transform raw tips into valuable fraud examinations.Ovem lupo commitere!
Whistleblowers: A Fraud Triage System to Manage Burgeoning Caseloads
As the use of whistleblower programs continues to grow, many organizations find themselves struggling to manage burgeoning caseloads. As a result, serious fraud investigations can be delayed (with mounting losses) while less consequential complaints are being investigated. The lack of a timely, systematic, and repeatable process for evaluating and prioritizing whistleblower tips that contain allegations of ethical breaches can also expose an organization to increased regulatory risk. While there is no single “right” method for following up on whistleblower complaints, the most effective approaches often resemble the medical triage programs that hospitals and first responders use to allocate limited resources during emergencies or a crisis situations. Here are some useful guidelines for designing and implementing a fraud triage system.
Fraud, Compliance & Integrity Risk During a Crisis and a Downturn
As a crisis unfolds, like Coronavirus, and markets decline globally, fraudsters will be adapting and new risks will emerge and some risks will increase. Remember, white collar criminals adapt by profiling us, so they can exploit our weaknesses. That being said, companies need to develop a strategy that enables the deployment of appropriate tactics to manage these new or increasing risks.This writing explores some fraud, compliance, and integrity risks and is intended to provoke discussion.
IIA Philadelphia and Baker Tilly’s Fraud & Ethics Symposium is Postponed! Stay tuned for the new date.
This one-day fraud symposium, sponsored by Baker Tilly's Global Forensic, Compliance and Integrity Services, and Solutions Practice Group and hosted by the Institute of Internal Auditors, Philadelphia Chapter, will include topics such as:•Culture•Current trends in white-collar crime•Tone is the middle•Policy management•Case study on a local fraudDiscover who will be speaking and register for the event!
Bribery Schemes and Their Compliance Responses
This writing will highlight some of the more unusual bribery schemes described in 2019 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions and also consider their impact on compliance programs, what they mean for the compliance professional and how the government could potentially use these cases to require more effective compliance programs going forward.Fraudsters are always looking for loopholes and weak spots to exploit. The same is true for those engaged in bribery and corruption. The role of every compliance professional is to prevent, detect and remediate. By following some of the approaches I have outlined, you can move towards more robust detection.
Fraud Tip Friday: Lessons From Recent FCPA Enforcement Actions
The United States government’s fiscal year ended on September 30, 2019. Just as in the business world, where many companies try and clear out any unexecuted deals or open contracts, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cleared out three outstanding Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions. The three enforcement actions involved Quad/Graphics Inc., a Wisconsin-based digital and print marketing provider, and its Peruvian subsidiary, Quad/Graphics Peru S.A.; Barclays PLC; and a Canadian clean fuel company Westport Fuels Systems, Inc. and its former Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nancy Gougarty of Leesville, South Carolina. The terms of each settlement agreement provide a different lesson for compliance practitioners.
Speaking and Training on Fraud, Compliance, Ethics, and More...
Welcome to my site. I have spoken and been the keynote speaker for many conferences, including the ABA, ACC, ACFE, IIA, and IMA to name a few. I have designed customized training for the board, senior leadership, legal, compliance, internal audit, and others for some of the world's largest organizations.
Fraud: Department of Justice (DOJ) Announces Procurement Collusion Strike Force
On November 5th, the Department of Justice announced the formation of the new Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) “focusing on deterring, detecting, investigating and prosecuting antitrust crimes, such as bid-rigging conspiracies and related fraudulent schemes, which undermine competition in government procurement, grant and program funding”.The Strike Force is an inter-agency partnership comprised of prosecutors from the Antitrust Division, and prosecutors from thirteen (13) U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. Aiding in the prosecutors’ efforts are investigation partners such as the Offices of Inspector Generals from the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Service, and General Services Administration Office. The Department of Justice’s announcement proclaimed that investigating and prosecuting those who “cheat, collude and seek to undermine the integrity of government procurement” will have more to concern themselves with when executing their crimes. Prosecutors and investigators alike expressed enthusiasm to be working as a part of this new team.