Anti-fraud, Baker Tilly, Bribery, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Fraud Risk Management, Money Laundering, Red Flag, White Collar Crime Jonathan T. Marks Anti-fraud, Baker Tilly, Bribery, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Fraud Risk Management, Money Laundering, Red Flag, White Collar Crime Jonathan T. Marks

Congress Approves Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) Measure

Money laundering issues have haunted many over the years.  To promote greater transparency, the U.S. Sen­ate has ap­proved leg­is­la­tion re­quir­ing com­pa­nies in the U.S. to reg­is­ter their true owners. This change would help com­bat money laun­der­ing and the fi­nanc­ing of ter­ror­ism.

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SEC Punishes Broker-Dealer for Conducting Business over Text Messages or on Personal Devices

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) entered an "Order" on September 23, 2020, against JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC ("firm"), a broker-dealer located in California, for failing to retain text messages relating to the firm’s business. The SEC fined JonesTrading $100,000. Read more!

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Anti-fraud, Baker Tilly, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Counsel, Ethics, Exit Interview, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Internal Audit, Internal Controls, Interview, Lessons Learned, Red Flag, Risk Management Jonathan T. Marks Anti-fraud, Baker Tilly, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Counsel, Ethics, Exit Interview, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Internal Audit, Internal Controls, Interview, Lessons Learned, Red Flag, Risk Management Jonathan T. Marks

The Properly Designed Exit Interview a Necessary Step in Uncovering Ethical Violations

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Board of Directors, Compliance, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Oversight, Risk Jonathan T. Marks Board of Directors, Compliance, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Oversight, Risk Jonathan T. Marks

Board of Directors Oversight

Under the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines, in order to receive credit for having an effective compliance program and thereby reduce the fines imposed on the organization, a Board of Directors must be “knowledgeable about the content and operation of the compliance and ethics program.” It must “exercise reasonable oversight with respect to the implementation and effectiveness of the compliance and ethics program.”

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Audit Committee, Board of Directors, Chief Compliance Officer, Compliance, Ethics, Fraud, Fraud Risk Management, Governance, Internal Audit, Risk Jonathan T. Marks Audit Committee, Board of Directors, Chief Compliance Officer, Compliance, Ethics, Fraud, Fraud Risk Management, Governance, Internal Audit, Risk Jonathan T. Marks

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.

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Business Intelligence, Compliance, Data Analytics, Enterprise Risk Resili..., Ethics, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Internal Audit, Internal Control Defic..., Internal Controls, Regulatory, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, White Collar Crime Jonathan T. Marks Business Intelligence, Compliance, Data Analytics, Enterprise Risk Resili..., Ethics, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Internal Audit, Internal Control Defic..., Internal Controls, Regulatory, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, White Collar Crime Jonathan T. Marks

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.

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Donut Holes! Dunkin’ Data Breach Settlement

Dunkin’ was repeatedly alerted to attackers’ ongoing attempts to log in to customer accounts by a third-party app developer. The app developer even provided Dunkin’ with a list of nearly 20,000 accounts that had been compromised by attackers over just a sample five-day period. "Yet, Dunkin’ failed to investigate the attacks to identify other customer accounts that had been compromised, determine what customer information had been acquired, or whether customer funds had been stolen.
Dunkin agreed to pay $650,000 as penalty settlement costs for the lawsuit over its failure to respond to credential stuffing attacks.

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Tipsters - SEC Adds Clarity, Efficiency and Transparency to Its Whistleblower Award Program

On Wednesday, September 23. 2020, the SEC voted to adopt amendments to the rules governing its whistleblower program.
According to the SEC, the amendments are meant to “provide greater transparency, efficiency and clarity, and to strengthen and bolster the program.”The amendments were proposed for public comment in June 2018 and have been adopted with some changes.

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FCPA - Mergers & Acquisition Due Diligence

When a company acquires another company, the successor company can be liable for the acquired company’s activities before acquisition. The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) have administered Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement actions against successor companies in cases involving egregious and sustained violations, where the successor company directly participated in the violations, or where the successor company failed to stop the misconduct from continuing after the acquisition.This writing explores some key steps that should be taken pre and post acquisition.

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Anti-fraud, Audit Committee, Board of Directors, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Counsel, DOJ, Enterprise Risk Resili..., Fake Invoices, Foreign Corrupt Practi..., Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Fraud Investigations, General Counsel, Internal Audit, Kickbacks, Money Laundering, Red Flag, Shell Company, White Collar Crime Jonathan T. Marks Anti-fraud, Audit Committee, Board of Directors, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Counsel, DOJ, Enterprise Risk Resili..., Fake Invoices, Foreign Corrupt Practi..., Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Fraud Investigations, General Counsel, Internal Audit, Kickbacks, Money Laundering, Red Flag, Shell Company, White Collar Crime Jonathan T. Marks

DOJ Unravels a Decade-Old Scheme that involved Kickbacks, Money Laundering, Sham Shell Companies, and Fake Invoices

According to evidence presented at trial, Aleksandr Pikus, 45, of Brooklyn, New York, and his co-conspirators perpetrated a scheme through a series of medical clinics in Brooklyn and Queens over nearly a decade.   The clinics employed doctors, physical and occupational therapists, and other medical professionals who were enrolled in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  In return for illegal kickbacks, Pikus referred beneficiaries to these health care providers, who submitted claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs.Pikus and his co-conspirators then laundered a substantial portion of the proceeds of these claims through companies he controlled, including by cashing checks at several New York City check-cashing businesses.  Pikus then failed to report that cash income to the IRS.  Instead, Pikus used the cash to enrich himself and others and to pay kickbacks to patient recruiters, who, in turn, paid beneficiaries to receive treatment at the medical clinics.  The evidence further established that Pikus and his co-conspirators used sham shell companies and fake invoices to conceal their illegal activities.

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Anti-fraud, Audit Committee, Bribery, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Counsel, Compliance, EQS, Ethics, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Governance, Hotline, Internal Audit, Internal Controls, Investigations, Monitor, NAVEX, Red Flag, Regulatory, Risk Assessment, Risk factors, Risk Management, Technology, Tips, Triage, Values, Whistleblower, White Collar Crime Jonathan T. Marks Anti-fraud, Audit Committee, Bribery, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Counsel, Compliance, EQS, Ethics, Fraud, Fraud and Forensic Inv..., Governance, Hotline, Internal Audit, Internal Controls, Investigations, Monitor, NAVEX, Red Flag, Regulatory, Risk Assessment, Risk factors, Risk Management, Technology, Tips, Triage, Values, Whistleblower, White Collar Crime Jonathan T. Marks

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!

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3 Lines, Audit, Audit Committee, Business Intelligence, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Counsel, Compliance, Enterprise Risk Resili..., Fraud and Forensic Inv..., General Counsel, Governance, IIA, Internal Audit, Jonathan T- Marks, Risk, Three Lines, Three Lines of Defense Jonathan T. Marks 3 Lines, Audit, Audit Committee, Business Intelligence, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Counsel, Compliance, Enterprise Risk Resili..., Fraud and Forensic Inv..., General Counsel, Governance, IIA, Internal Audit, Jonathan T- Marks, Risk, Three Lines, Three Lines of Defense Jonathan T. Marks

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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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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