Uncovering the full scope of a fraudulent scheme

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The challenge

Our client—the Canadian arm of a non-profit—had a former employee divert more than $1M CAD to several different personal bank accounts. The scheme combined hundreds of donations purposely hidden and mixed in with thousands of legitimate transactions—making it difficult to differentiate in the organization’s donation software. The fraud also involved hundreds of diverted donations that were never recorded in the records. Our client needed independent expertise to understand the fraud’s full scope and confirmation that the former employee acted alone.

How we helped

Worked with their legal counsel so that our client understands the fraud’s totality.

Conducted a multifaceted forensic accounting investigation which included a digital forensic investigation of the former employee.

Quantified the diverted funds by applying a variety of forensic accounting techniques to the donation records.

The digital forensic investigation was able to identify the fraudulent tax receipts, and a credit card merchant account used to divert hundreds of thousands of dollars to a personal account and altered donation receipts.

We offered our client an understanding of the fraud’s totality by working closely with their legal counsel and conducting a multifaceted forensic accounting investigation. This included a digital forensic investigation of the former employee’s computer, online cloud storage and employee emails/communications. We also quantified the diverted funds by applying a variety of forensic accounting techniques to the donation records and evidence from the former employee’s personal bank records. The digital forensic investigation identified additional details: fraudulent tax receipts issued by the former employee to themselves and family members, a credit card merchant account used to divert hundreds of thousands of dollars to a personal account and altered donation receipts.

The impact

Fraud doesn’t exist in a vacuum—it has immediate and long-term implications for an organization. We helped our client to make an informed decision on how to negotiate with the former employee to recover the diverted funds. We also assisted management as they restated their financial statements and informed the CRA. The organization was aware that they’d been subject to fraud, but we offered clarity on its scope and helped to create a plan to move forward with confidence.

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Uncovering the full scope of a fraudulent scheme

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Uncovering the full scope of a fraudulent scheme

The challenge

How we helped

The impact

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