28/07/2021
How do we know if a fraudulent becomes a Fraud investigator?
Most organizations have controls in place to prevent and detect fraud being committed against them from the outside. In the banking industry in particular, external fraud is an expected occurrence and banks employ sophisticated processes and technology to prevent and detect such occurrences. The bigger problem occurs when fraud has been committed from within. Apart from the cost involved, there is always some collateral damage caused including loss of reputation, brand damage and reduced employee morale. Seniority of the suspect is also a factor, the more senior the employee, the more serious the damage.
History shows that, in the absence of any structured response plan, the amount of time and effort it takes for management to respond, particularly in the initial weeks, is excessive and severely impacts the normal business activity of the organization. When a potential fraud is first discovered, the following few hours or days can be very confusing and stressful if the organization is unprepared. In the absence of a Fraud Response Plan, experience has shown that managers handle the same problem in different ways - sometimes with disastrous consequences such as destroying the evidentiary value of information by inappropriate handling processes, inadvertently tipping off the suspect, enabling them to destroy incriminating evidence, failing to keep the matter confidential and taking inappropriate action caused by having insufficient information.
For example, in a recent fraud incident occurring in the UAE, an employee who was in charge of procurement for a certain organization also operated a supply and contracting company which had been paid in excess of Dhs 3,000,000 by his employer’s company, all ordered and authorised by him. The suspect, once discovered, was dismissed but was given a month’s grace period during which time he destroyed a large number of incriminating documents.
In another incident, it became widely known throughout an organization that a fraud had been uncovered. However, that particular incident, which became public knowledge, was only a small part of a much larger conspiracy between a number of employees and suppliers. By failing to keep the matter confidential, the company management enabled the conspirators to destroy incriminating records, electronic data and to dispose of stolen property, which rendered any future investigation futile. The identities of the suspects were not confirmed, meaning that the company may still be employing people who are actively seeking ways to defraud it.
A Fraud Response Plan ensures that incidents are handled in a systematic and efficient manner, not only to conclude a successful investigation, but also to show that the organization acted in a prudent and lawful manner. And that it does not tolerate fraud.
The Fraud Response Plan should outline how far an individual line manager should go in collecting initial information before invoking the Response Plan. The key is to provide the line manager with an effective framework to resolve concerns, rather than leave such resolution to individual initiative.
Initial Action
It is important to remember that when fraud is first suspected, the matter may well be more serious than it may initially appear. This is because fraudsters rarely restrict their activities to only one modus operandi or method. Therefore, every effort should be made to obtain as much information as possible before anyone is questioned, confronted or interviewed. This is particularly important in organizations or business units with a close working environment, where there may be a strong temptation to simply question an employee as soon as suspicion is raised.
It is also important to be aware that larger scale frauds are often international in nature. Therefore, any fraud contingency planning must include measures for taking legal and investigative action across jurisdictions.
In addition, most frauds involve the use of a computer at some stage in the planning or ex*****on of the fraud. This is particularly evident in today’s environment, when the majority of white collar employees are allocated a computer by their employer. Business is conducted by computer and correspondence normally involves a computer through the widespread use of corporate e-mail. The pervasive involvement of the computer into most facets of corporate life means that electronic evidence is often vital to investigating corporate fraud. Obtaining that electronic piece of evidence is a specialist skill which should be discussed with your forensic specialists.
Initial actions are crucial to the eventual outcome of an investigation and, if a proper strategy is put in place and adhered to, the extent of fraudulent activity can usually be assessed and action taken to resolve the matter successfully. This usually means assimilating sufficient evidence to dismiss errant staff and to commence civil and/or criminal proceedings against those concerned in the fraud, or claims against insurers, if so desired.
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