Identifying The Differences Between Preparing A Forensic Report For A Fraud And A Confiscation

Very often criminal cases need the expertise of a forensic accountant to assist. They analyse and present financial information in a way that a court can readily understand. Frequently their task is to assist the defence lawyers to respond to the allegations being made.

The prosecution often brings a case in a fraud matter such as a tax fraud or a confiscation of assets using the Proceeds of Crime Act legislation following another conviction that involves a large amount of financial data. It is usual for the case summary, or statement of information as it may be called in a confiscation, to be written and presented by persons such as an accredited financial investigator. These are often employed as police officers and may receive training in a number of areas including investigating, interviewing and evidence handling. Some will receive rudimentary accounting instruction but most will not. It is very rare for the prosecution to employ expert accountants to present financial data owing to budgetary constraints. However, this results in the need for the criminal defence to examine the allegations in very great detail as, more often than not, they will include errors and inappropriate conclusions.

In the case of a fraud, it will usually be clear that there is a case to answer. The police will investigate financial losses and in many cases be able to present a modus for the crime that can be readily understood. However, such is the partisan nature of the approach adopted by the regulatory authorities that they will often draw rather zealous or inappropriate conclusions from their evidence. The forensic accountant must consider all aspects of the case and present the information in an independent and unbiased way. Sometimes this can result in the defendant being shown in a more adverse light, but mostly will lead to a tempering of the prosecution's case.

On the other hand the treatment of a confiscation by the authorities can result in the presentation of wholly unreasonable demands for a person to lose all their wealth and suffer lengthy additional prison terms for committing even modest crimes for which they have already received a punishment. The confiscation regime has often been called draconian and presents a much stronger need for a capable forensic accountant to become involved.

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ensured that criminals involved in not only money laundering and drug dealing were targeted, but also any criminal who could be deemed to have enjoyed a criminal lifestyle. Unfortunately, the criterion for a criminal lifestyle are very easily met!

The prosecution continue to use accredited financial investigators to estimate the extent of a person's criminal lifestyle, without the benefit of having to prove matters to within "reasonable doubt" as is usual for criminal matters. What is more, the legislation allows sweeping assumptions to be made, with the onus on the defendant to prove otherwise. This is why the defence is tasked with a difficult job and hence the need for the assistance of forensic accountants.

An expert may therefore be used to clarify the framework of a complex fraud, presenting the evidence in an understandable fashion. It can point to flaws in the allegations being made but can equally present a poorer picture for the defendant. More often than not, in a confiscation matter the expert accountant will reduce the extent that the criminal benefit has been estimated as by the prosecution, pointing out flaws in the approach and mistakes in the calculations.

In both frauds and confiscations there is a strong argument for an increased use of expert forensic accountants. This would mean increased funding for the police and prosecution authorities, but might mean a corresponding reduction in the amount of work that the defence is tasked with, which at the end of the day is also funded from public money.

Mark Jenner provides services as a forensic accountant based in York and throughout the UK. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Certified Fraud Examiner and has a Masters Degree in Fraud Management. He specialises as a criminal defence and tax fraud accountant.

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Stock Fraud Attorney: Types of Accusations

In the financial realm, a stock fraud attorney represents individuals looking to get back their investments. There are a variety of different ways that investors can be swindled out of their money. While some individuals and companies get away with their crimes, the hand of the law is often able to reach out and gain justice for those affected. Here are a few examples of common security frauds.

Theft From Investors

When people start to notice their money disappearing, you can be sure that they are going to speak up. There are several ways that a person can take investment money under the guise of a legitimate deal. He may set up a dummy corporation. Stocks are sold and by the time an investor realizes what has happened, his money is gone. If someone suspects this is happening or he knows that he is the victim in this type of case, he will seek out representation by a stock fraud attorney.

Inaccurate Company Statements

Falsified financial documents can give investors an inaccurate sense of security. On paper, a company seems sound and it may even look like things are steadily improving. These statements provide the encouragement investors need to put more money into securities. When the truth is revealed, the stocks are worth much less and investors lose considerably.

Insider Trading

When it comes to stock and frauds committed, insider trading is the equivalent of cheating. Someone on the inside of a company obtains information that he or she knows will make a difference in the securities prices. Using this information, people invest and come out on top with the information is made public. Often, a person turns over this information to someone else to let him handle the trades. This detracts attention from the insider. Whether a person is accused of being the insider or using information provided by an insider, they can be the target of a stock fraud attorney and his case.

Ponzi Schemes

A stock fraud attorney may be called on to represent someone accused of putting together a Ponzi scheme. In this scenario, investors hand over their money to a fraudulent investment company. In time, they see returns and assume that everything is going well. What they don't realize is the returns they see are either coming from their own funds or other investors. The investments are not growing. Instead, money is being moved around to make the company look profitable. Eventually, things will collapse and one person walks away with most or all of the cash.

Enlisting the help of a stock fraud attorney can go a long way towards delivering justice. To schedule a consultation with an extensively experienced lawyer, go to http://www.hornsbylawgroup.com/.

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Employee Fraud And Steps Of Preventing It

Elements Of Employee Fraud

In case of employee fraud, it is normally believed that three elements are present. Because of these elements, people are allowed to commit fraud. Fraud occurs only when all of the three elements are present. Here is a brief discussion about the elements-

1. Opportunity- For committing a fraud, the employee has to believe that he or she is capable of both committing and concealing the offense. But according to some experts, every opportunity of committing fraud is to be exploited. The only concern in this regard is the time & procedure.

2. Pressure/incentive: Bearing down on an individual. In most cases, it is financial. Pressure to display one's wealth without permission or connected to a person's past or current expenditures can arise from addiction of alcohol, drug or gambling. Then there can be emotional pressure in some cases. For example, a cruel boss who is always there to behave badly with the employee. Ultimately, there can be a fear of being fired or losing the job which can lead to employee fraud.

3. Rationalization/Attitude: Most often, there is an "I deserve it" feeling in the mind of the employees. That is the employees feel that they are deprived of what they deserve. Often it is inflated sense of an individual's self-importance as well as contributions and a false entitlement sense. The latter one is very much different. In this form, the employee rationalizes his decision of taking advantage of an opportunity by stating- "I'm borrowing it for sometime and I'll give it back." The "borrowing" can go up to even several thousands of dollars. But the offender continues to rationalize own theft by the "intent" to "pay it all back."

Steps For Reducing Employee fraud

Here are some ideas of reducing employee fraud which you can take as an owner:

1. Employ higher authority for checks with higher amount of money.
2. On receiving a check, keep track of the check by number as well as reconcile bank statements.
3. When employing, have a thorough check on the backgrounds of the employees; particularly those who are going be employed for high posts.
4. Have a check to ensure that no unauthorized person has used a credit card in the name of your company.
5. Consider to purchase bonding insurance. These are insurances against employee fraud.
6. Ensure using a payroll service. By doing so, you will able to reduce the payroll tax fund fraud.
7. Make sure running a journal entry report on a monthly basis.
8. As an own owner, you should visit all the vendors or the corresponding representatives.

http://www.criminalattorneyin.net/ is the resource of your ultimate criminal law solution.

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