Safeguard your ePHI

Post by Tony Cafferelli

On April 24th 2017, CardioNet, a wireless health services provider, agreed on a 2.5 million dollar settlement with the Department of Health and Human Services, regarding their impermissible disclosure of unsecured electronic protected health information (ePHI). HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) was passed in 1996 to safeguard ePHI. CardioNet’s impermissible disclosure came about when an employee left a laptop containing ePHI in their car overnight, where it was stolen. Subsequently, CardioNet complied with the […]

August 1, 2017 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

What Is Protected PII?

Post by Ravi Melwani 

The Federal Government (FCC, DOL) and State Compliance Offices can issue large fines to Organization’s that transmit Protected PII without proper procedures in place to secure these transmissions. Accounting firms have a fiduciary responsibility to clients and their employees and participants to ensure Protected PII is properly secured.

The Department of Labor defines Protected PII as Personally Identifiable Information which, if disclosed, could result in harm to the individual whose name or identity is linked with this information.

The […]

July 27, 2017 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Segregation of Duties: The Key to Proper Controls and Minimizing Fraud

 

Post By Alyssa Sproat

Segregation of duties (SOD) is an essential part of the effectiveness of internal controls for any business. This integral separation ensures that key processes are performed by more than one person to prevent fraud or financial misstatement. While technology continues to become more sophisticated, the time is now to implement controls that segregate key functions within processes such as cash disbursements, investments, payroll, and many other areas.

The first step to implementing effective SOD is to truly understand […]

March 1, 2017 Benefit Plan Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Combating Fraud With Internal Controls – Where Do I Start?

Post By Khal Taib
“It can never happen to us!” is a too common thought that passes through the minds of managers across the globe spanning countless industries. The concept of fraud is not a sexy subject for those in management. No one ever believes that what happened in the well-publicized fraud schemes, could happen to them or their respective organization. And yet, an entity with weak control activities can find itself swirling in fraud and finding themselves in the […]

February 23, 2017 Audit, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Administrative Expenses: Whose Alligator Boots are You Buying?

 Post By Emily Hewitt 

In federal court the former vice chairman of ABC-Mart pled guilty to committing fraud for a period that lasted longer than six years. John Smith was convicted of fraud for embezzlement, theft of gift cards and merchandise and unauthorized use of the company’s credit card for personal purchases. How can we and ABC-Mart learn from this nightmare?

Mr. Smith was allegedly involved in creating dummy vendors and invoices and coercing subordinates to approve expenses without support. He would […]

February 9, 2017 Audit, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Fraud Alert: Beware of The Reshipping Scam

Posting by John Merchant

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service warns of an apparent employment opportunity that is actually a scam called Re-shipping Fraud. The scam goes like this: You receive notice of an opportunity or see an ad for employment as a “package processing assistant”. This is an attractive offer because you can work from home and your only duty is to receive packages and then re-ship them to a foreign address. The package that you are shipping overseas is […]

October 25, 2016 Forensic Accounting Read more...

Lapping of Cash Receipts: A Bond Beebe Case Study

A few years ago, one of our audit clients was the victim of fraud when an employee embezzled cash receipts.  The fraud was made possible by a combination of unusual circumstances and errors in management judgment.

As we started the annual audit of our client’s financial statements, we learned that the long-time controller had decided to retire.  He did not want to leave the company in a bind, so he offered to stay on until the audit was completed.  By […]

October 11, 2016 Accounting, Audit, Forensic Accounting Read more...

The Field of Forensic Accounting

Particularly since the emergence of far-reaching financial scandals, and sweeping legislation like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, there has been a growing demand for the services of forensic accountants. These specially trained individuals possess fraud examination skills which can help organizations in the detection and deterrence of fraud.

For a forensic accountant to succeed in this dynamic and competitive field, four fundamental areas of knowledge should be mastered:

Criminology – What is the motivation for people who commit fraud?
Financial Transactions – […]

October 7, 2016 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Preventing Fraud: How Solid are Your Internal Controls?

John A. Merchant, CPA, CFE, CFF

Fraud in the workplace has become a major topic of conversation over the past few years.  It seems that frauds of various types are being reported at a rate far greater than just a decade ago.  Are there really more frauds being committed today than ten years ago, or are we just getting better at finding them?

Whatever the answer to that question is, it is clear that one of the best methods of detecting […]

October 7, 2016 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

How to Use Social Media to Support Your Fraud Case

Posting by Alex Helfand

The invasion of social media continues to complicate litigation. Effective litigation will increasingly include sifting through large amounts of electronically stored information (ESI) and piecing together fragmented social networking activity to substantiate a case. Exactly how does social media play into support for a fraud case and what are the considerations for preserving, obtaining, and using data from social media sites?
Social Media and the Clues Left Behind
While the most common social networking sites include Facebook and […]

June 7, 2016 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...