Hiring Due Diligence Should Include an Attitude Check
If you’ve ever had to hire people, you know what a tough job that is. You know that you are making a decision that will have a profound impact on a number of people—not only on yourself and whoever you choose, but also on everyone…
Secret Lender Agents Make Asset Searches Harder
It’s always nice to be able to know who has loaned people money. It helps in asset searches, of course, but we also like to call bankers in after-fraud investigations. Now getting to the identity of those lenders is about to get harder.…
Allen Stanford: Persistent Due Diligence Could Have Made a Difference
The Allen Stanford alleged Ponzi scheme case is currently before the courts after years of delays. We are finally getting to hear from witnesses and co-conspirators about what they say were the lengths undertaken to defraud Stanford’s…
Background Checks for All: Lessons from the Alleged Archdiocese Theft
Anita Collins, an elderly woman working as an accounts payable clerk for the New York Archdiocese, was recently arrested for embezzling funds from the church. That’s bad news for the archdiocese. But the real black eye for…
Forensic Investigations: Due Diligence Done Correctly
What’s the difference between a forensic audit and a regular audit? We think we know the difference when we see it, but what is it? The issue came up before a short talk I was giving to some accountants last week, and the answer…
New Employee Character Checks: A Gut Check is Not Enough
You have an opening in your company. You get a slew of resumes for the position, you interview a number of candidates, and then you finally narrow it down to two people: One has experience that’s right on the mark, but during the…
Fire your accountant, financial advisor and lawyer too?
A thought-provoking column in the Wall Street Journal here that argues in favor of routine changes of auditors got me thinking. If we should change our auditors on the grounds that they get too close to us and are afraid to displease us for…
Low-Cost Background Checks Ruin Lives
An enraging story by the Associated Press spells it out: computers used by background checkers mix up two people with the same name. Blameless woman gets tagged with a criminal record that isn’t hers, can’t get work and ends up homeless.…
What the Judge Rakoff Decision Says About Investigating Settlements
Federal District Court Judge Jed Rakoff shook up the securities bar with his widely reported rejection of a settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup. The decision and order has thrown into turmoil decades of what…
Thinking About Divorce? The Essential Checklist
It happens all the time. A divorce lawyer calls us and says his client is thinking of suing her husband for divorce, but knows very little about the family’s finances. What are the sources of income? Where is the money invested?…
