In todays always-online, technology-driven business environment, keeping information secure is more important than ever before. This is especially true for any business that holds the personal information of their employees and patrons in their systems. Businesses need to be concerned with the security of their computer networks as well as the record keeping policies and procedures that employees must follow.

Occupational fraud is a scheme in which an employee abuses the trust placed in him or her by an employer for personal gain. Its formal definition is: The use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employing organization’s resources or assets.

Organizations with fewer than 100 employees significantly trail their counterparts in the implementation of formal antifraud controls, according to a worldwide survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).  Antifraud experts say formal controls can help small businesses prevent and detect instances of fraud that, left undiscovered, could lead to costly losses and possibly...

This past April, firm partner Mark Gardiner became a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). The CFE credential denotes proven expertise in fraud prevention, detection and deterrence. There is a complex and unique skill set involved in the CFE designation; CFE’s are trained to identify the warning signs and red flags that indicate evidence of fraud and fraud risk by combining knowledge of complex financial transactions with an understanding of methods, law and how to resolve allegations of fraud. CFE’s around the world work to help protect the global economy by not only uncovering fraud, by implementing processes that work to prevent fraud from originating.

Recent surveys indicate that individuals and businesses purchasing goods over the internet are not properly remitting sales or use tax, many times in violation of state law (the estimated non-compliance rate in California was greater than 98%).

It’s been close to a decade since the high profile fraud incidents at Enron, WorldCom, and Adelphia took place, and the antifraud provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 were enacted. We’ve seen additional legislation enacted recently in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. So, is corporate fraud under control as a result?