Internal Controls - A Process to Help Ensure Internal Controls are Designed Consistently and Appropriately

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Compliance snubbed? Three Lines Model or Enterprise Resiliency Model?

In July 2020, The Institute of Internal Auditors ("IIA") updated its Three Lines of Defense Model ("Model") to emphasize more active forms of risk management and governance that appear to go beyond merely defensive maneuvers made by the internal audit function.  Some believed the old model sent a message that we should fear risk. I never saw it that way. I understood the subliminal message was the model was about achieving objectives, which requires both the creation and the protection of value. The new model does a much better job of confirming that risk management contributes "to achieving objectives and creating value, as well as to matters of "defense" and protecting value."Learn why the Enterprise Risk Resilient Model might be a better choice.

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Fraud and Forensic Inv... Jonathan T. Marks Fraud and Forensic Inv... Jonathan T. Marks

Big Data, Cross Border Matters, Third Party Issues, Regulatory Difficulties, and Compliance Problems are just some of the things Baker Tilly’s Global Forensic Investigations, Compliance, and Integrity Practice Tackle.

Our experience conducting fraud investigations, domestically and globally, allows us to advise our clients on measures they can take to prevent fraud from occurring and detect issues before they expand. Our clients look to us to design anti-fraud programs and controls, perform anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance assessments, and perform proactive fraud examinations to identify possible red flags or indicators of fraudulent activity. Because of our collective skills and the depth and breadth of our experiences, we are also able to design and enhance compliance programs and serve as integrity monitors. 
Correcting deficiencies, addressing gaps in controls, and remediation of specific issues is important at the end of every investigation to prevent the same or similar frauds from recurring.We address these important client needs at the end of our investigations and can assist with implementing remedial actions.

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COVID-19 - Fraud On The Rise is No Surprise!

Last week, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (” ACFE”) published the results of a survey taken by more than 1,800 anti-fraud professionals in late April and early May 2020, while we were deep into the Covid-19 crisis.  The findings, for the most part, are not surprising, but does reveal some disappointing information.  While I have not seen a raw copy of the survey, I was surprised the ACFE didn’t ask if the company’s fraud risk assessment was reviewed and modified accordingly.In addition, the survey highlights trends in the overall level of fraud. Survey respondents provided information about their current observations and expected changes regarding ten (10) specific types of fraud.

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DOJ Revises its Guidance on the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs

Without any fanfare, the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division has once again revised its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“ECCP”).  The ECCP  remains  organized around three overarching questions that prosecutors ask when evaluating compliance programs, with some revisions, which are in bold text below:Is the corporation’s compliance program well designed?Is the program being applied earnestly and in good faith? In other words, is the program being implemented adequately resourced and empowered to function effectively?Does the corporation’s compliance program work in practice?While most of the document is identical to the 2019 Guidance, there are subtle and noticeable revisions.  The revisions appear to be designed to help provide additional clarity when answering the above three questions. 

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A Violation of Trust: Fraud Risk in Nonprofit or Not-for Profit Organizations

The risk of fraud is a serious concern for all types of enterprises, but fraud can be particularly damaging to a nonprofit or not-for-profit organization, for which a damaged reputation can have devastating consequences.

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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.

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Getting the Monkey off your Back - A Road Map that will help lead you in times of Crisis

Risks change! It's critical to continuously evaluate the situation, because new risks may emerge and risk previously identified may have a different velocity and rhus the speed of impact might change - some may slow and some may increase.

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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.

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ACFE, Analytics, Anti-fraud, Audit, Audit Committee, Automation, Baker Tilly, Board of Directors, Books and records, Bribery, Caremark, Cash, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Colleges and Universities, Collusion, Compliance, Compliance Coordinator, Conflict of Interest, Continuous Monitoring, Control Environment, Corporate Fraud, Corruption, COSO, Court, Crisis Management, Critical Audit Matters, Cross Border Investiga..., Culture, Culture Assessment, Cyber, Damages, Data, Data Analytics, Data Integrity, Directors, Dodd Frank, Dodd-Frank, DOJ, Due Diligence, ERM, Ethics, Evidence, False Claims Act, FCPA, Foreign Corrupt Practi..., Forensic Accounting, Four eyes approval, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic, Fraud Investigations, Fraud Pentagon, Fraud Risk Management, Fraud Triangle, GDPR, General Counsel, Global, Governance, GRC, Hidden Assets, Hotline, IIA, IIA Philadelphia, IIOT, Internal Audit, Internal Control Defic..., Internal Controls, Interview, Investigations, Jonathan T- Marks, Management Override, Materiality, Money Laundering, Monitor, Monitoring, Monitorship, NACD, Nonprofit, Not for Profit, Phishing, Podcast, Policies and Procedures, Process Improvement, Proxy, Qui Tam, Red Flag, RegTech, Regulatory, Related Party, Remediation, Reputation, Restatement, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Robotic, Root Cause, Sampling, Sarbanes-Oxley, Seaboard, SEC, Shell Company, Skepticism, Slush Fund, Supreme Court, Tax, Tax Fraud, Technology, Theft, Third Party, Thought Leadership, Tips, Tone from the Top, Training, Treasury, Triage, Uncategorized, Values, Whistleblower, White Collar Crime, Yellow Flag Jonathan T. Marks ACFE, Analytics, Anti-fraud, Audit, Audit Committee, Automation, Baker Tilly, Board of Directors, Books and records, Bribery, Caremark, Cash, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Colleges and Universities, Collusion, Compliance, Compliance Coordinator, Conflict of Interest, Continuous Monitoring, Control Environment, Corporate Fraud, Corruption, COSO, Court, Crisis Management, Critical Audit Matters, Cross Border Investiga..., Culture, Culture Assessment, Cyber, Damages, Data, Data Analytics, Data Integrity, Directors, Dodd Frank, Dodd-Frank, DOJ, Due Diligence, ERM, Ethics, Evidence, False Claims Act, FCPA, Foreign Corrupt Practi..., Forensic Accounting, Four eyes approval, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic, Fraud Investigations, Fraud Pentagon, Fraud Risk Management, Fraud Triangle, GDPR, General Counsel, Global, Governance, GRC, Hidden Assets, Hotline, IIA, IIA Philadelphia, IIOT, Internal Audit, Internal Control Defic..., Internal Controls, Interview, Investigations, Jonathan T- Marks, Management Override, Materiality, Money Laundering, Monitor, Monitoring, Monitorship, NACD, Nonprofit, Not for Profit, Phishing, Podcast, Policies and Procedures, Process Improvement, Proxy, Qui Tam, Red Flag, RegTech, Regulatory, Related Party, Remediation, Reputation, Restatement, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Robotic, Root Cause, Sampling, Sarbanes-Oxley, Seaboard, SEC, Shell Company, Skepticism, Slush Fund, Supreme Court, Tax, Tax Fraud, Technology, Theft, Third Party, Thought Leadership, Tips, Tone from the Top, Training, Treasury, Triage, Uncategorized, Values, Whistleblower, White Collar Crime, Yellow Flag Jonathan T. Marks

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.

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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.

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ACFE, Anti-fraud, Audit, Audit Committee, Board of Directors, Books and records, Bribery, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Collusion, Compliance, Compliance Coordinator, Control Environment, Corporate Fraud, Crisis Management, Cross Border Investiga..., Damages, Directors, Dodd Frank, DOJ, ERM, Ethics, False Claims Act, FCPA, Foreign Corrupt Practi..., Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic, Fraud Investigations, Fraud Pentagon, Fraud Risk Management, General Counsel, Governance, Hotline, IIA, IIA Philadelphia, Internal Audit, Internal Controls, Investigations, Money Laundering, Monitoring, Process Improvement, Red Flag, Regulatory, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Root Cause, Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC, Shell Company, Thought Leadership, Tone from the Top, Training, Triage, Values, Whistleblower, White Collar Crime Jonathan T. Marks ACFE, Anti-fraud, Audit, Audit Committee, Board of Directors, Books and records, Bribery, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Collusion, Compliance, Compliance Coordinator, Control Environment, Corporate Fraud, Crisis Management, Cross Border Investiga..., Damages, Directors, Dodd Frank, DOJ, ERM, Ethics, False Claims Act, FCPA, Foreign Corrupt Practi..., Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic, Fraud Investigations, Fraud Pentagon, Fraud Risk Management, General Counsel, Governance, Hotline, IIA, IIA Philadelphia, Internal Audit, Internal Controls, Investigations, Money Laundering, Monitoring, Process Improvement, Red Flag, Regulatory, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Root Cause, Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC, Shell Company, Thought Leadership, Tone from the Top, Training, Triage, Values, Whistleblower, White Collar Crime Jonathan T. Marks

Niki A. den Nieuwenboer will be kicking off the 2020 IIA Philly Fraud Symposium sponsored by Baker Tilly - Mark your calendars for March 20th!

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Audit Committee, Board of Directors, Chief Compliance Officer, Compliance, Corporate Fraud, Corruption, Crisis Management, Cross Border Investiga..., Directors, Dodd Frank, Dodd-Frank, DOJ, ERM, Ethics, False Claims Act, FCPA, Food Safety, Foreign Corrupt Practi..., Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic, Fraud Investigations, Fraud Risk Management, GDPR, General Counsel, Governance, Hotline, IIA, Internal Audit, Internal Control Defic..., Internal Controls, Interview, Investigations, Money Laundering, NACD, Nonprofit, Process Improvement, Qui Tam, Red Flag, Regulatory, Restatement, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Root Cause, Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC, Skepticism, Tone from the Top, Training, Triage, Whistleblower, White Collar Crime, Yellow Flag Jonathan T. Marks Audit Committee, Board of Directors, Chief Compliance Officer, Compliance, Corporate Fraud, Corruption, Crisis Management, Cross Border Investiga..., Directors, Dodd Frank, Dodd-Frank, DOJ, ERM, Ethics, False Claims Act, FCPA, Food Safety, Foreign Corrupt Practi..., Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic, Fraud Investigations, Fraud Risk Management, GDPR, General Counsel, Governance, Hotline, IIA, Internal Audit, Internal Control Defic..., Internal Controls, Interview, Investigations, Money Laundering, NACD, Nonprofit, Process Improvement, Qui Tam, Red Flag, Regulatory, Restatement, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Root Cause, Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC, Skepticism, Tone from the Top, Training, Triage, Whistleblower, White Collar Crime, Yellow Flag Jonathan T. Marks

Jonathan T. Marks, Baker Tilly Partner, is Speaking Today at the First Chair Event in Chicago on Triaging Whistleblower Allegations

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Foreign Bribery “Nips” Another for About $300 Million

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New DOJ Guidance Addresses ‘Effectiveness’ of Compliance Programs

DOJ Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs

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Baker Tilly’s 2019 Effective Governance and Compliance Roundtable Series - May 1, 2019 - CPE Event in Philadelphia -Using Continuous Auditing and Monitoring in the Fight Against Fraud

Organizations are under increasing scrutiny regarding ethical lapses and allegations of fraud. Fiscal year 2018 was a record-breaking year for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program, as more and more individuals have been coming forward with allegations of impropriety. Come learn how to use continuous auditing and monitoring in the fight against fraud - or help improve your compliance program!

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March 22, 2019, IIA Philadelphia's Annual Fraud Symposium Sponsored by Baker Tilly - Register Today!

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Fraud and Compliance Master Class in Chicago, Illinois on March 20 and 21, 2019

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Combating Fraud Through Effective Internal Controls

“Fraud is not an accounting problem; it is a social phenomenon.” Joe WellsMost companies will not readily admit that their organizations may be vulnerable to fraud.According to the 2020 Report to the Nations published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (“ACFE”), which contains an analysis of approximately 2,500 cases of occupational fraud that were investigated between January 2018 and September 2019, organizations lose 5% of their annual revenues to fraud. While this number is only a general estimate based on the opinion, it represents the collective observations of anti-fraud experts who together have investigated hundreds of thousands of fraud cases. Based on the ACFE’s study, the median loss caused by frauds was $125,000, with 21.0% of the cases resulting in losses of at least $1 million.

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