Fraud cases involve instances of dishonest or unethical behavior that benefits the perpetrator and negatively impacts the company. They must be carefully investigated to identify the culprit and prevent future occurrences of fraud and/or theft. This involves a thorough review of records, documents, emails, and personnel files, adhering to established protocols, separating facts from inferences or assumptions, conducting interviews and writing a comprehensive resulting report.
Whether it’s mortgage fraud, insurance fraud or securities fraud, these white-collar crimes can result in financial losses and damaged reputations. Depending on the scale and consequences, fraud can be punished under civil or criminal laws. Civil fraud is typically punishable by fines, while criminal fraud carries penalties like prison time.
When it comes to identifying red flags, it’s important for public employees to understand that certain behaviors could be a sign of fraudulent activity. This includes recognizing that individuals who commit fraud often have weak internal controls in place and are likely to commit other types of fraud.
For example, the fraudster who claims hours that were never worked may also be committing time fraud and stealing from the University through multiple avenues, such as falsifying travel and entertainment receipts or directing UC business to his own outside business to profit from federal grants. He might also be committing corruption by accepting bribes and/or stealing from his coworkers. In his session, “Der Spiegel’s Relotius Report: How to (and Not to) Write an Investigation Report,” at the virtual 2021 ACFE Fraud Conference Europe, Paul Milata, Ph.D, CFE, the director of Nemexis, discussed the case of Claas Relotius, a journalist for Der Spiegel who plagiarized many of his pieces.
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