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Venue
of Experience:
Most of our experience in
this area has been in North America and Latin America.
However, Michigan-based investigators from Loss Prevention Concepts,
Ltd. have additionally handled ethics investigations and
fraud-related cases in Europe, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.
Our Clients:
While most of our clients in
this area have been corporations which were being victimized by
internal white collar criminals, we have also conducted fraud and
ethics investigations under the direction of independent attorneys
and for insurance companies and financial service businesses.
Type of Experience:
Our experience in this area
is extremely diverse, ranging from the investigation of suspicions
of kickbacks in Kuala Lumpur and a Newfoundland-based fraud
conspiracy, to clarifying a corporate executive's hidden ownership
participation of a vendor's offshore business in Bermuda and a
complicated scheme by a domestic client's engineers relating to
their frequent visits to Japan. Other cases have involved more
common frauds, such as Ponzi Scams, and alterations of invoices as
well as bribery and kickbacks. The most difficult cases,
however, have involved proving conclusively the innocence of
executives when vague allegations of impropriety have been made by
anonymous poison pen tipsters.
Experience with
Creative Fraud Schemes:
Over the years we have had
the opportunity to successfully resolve many unusual and complicated
fraud matters. One interesting case involved professional
Grand Prix auto racing where the client's controls were
deficient. In this matter other uninvolved executives were
aware irregularities were occurring, but were held in check by an
implied threat of blackmail. One investigation revealed that
fraudsters had developed a means to access the company's main
computer and alter budgeted costs of their projects as a way to
provide themselves with personal funds which were laundered for them
by a dishonest vendor. One case involved a regional manager who was
a 50% owner of a racetrack which his employer sponsored. His
only investment in the track was this guarantee of
sponsorship. Another investigation found that a local manager,
using a series of cutouts, was selling back to his corporation the
products he was stealing from the business.
A Classic Freudian
Slip:
One interesting challenge
also resulted in a truly classic Freudian slip. Assisted by a
highly-placed executive, a lower level manager regularly purchased
used trucks from his employer using a middleman as the
purchaser. Over a hundred trucks were purchased in this manner
at a slightly discounted bluebook price, which looked reasonable on
paper, but did not take into account the equipment installed on the
trucks. Typically, this manager would buy a truck for $5,000,
pay his middleman $500, then sell the truck for around
$25,000. Often the resale occurred within a day or two and the
executive involved with the conspiracy would then be paid a few
thousand dollars after each sale. After exposing the primary
fraudster, an L.P.C., Ltd. investigator and the client's senior
internal auditor met with the suspected executive, planning a low
key interview. When they arrived in his office, this suspect
dragged out a frivolous telephone conversation in an
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