Tag Archive for: due diligence
The Hedge Fund Marketing Revolution: A Buyer’s Checklist
There are plenty of excited articles around these days about the new JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups ) Act and the effect this new law will have on the marketing of hedge funds. In brief, it’s now going to be easier for hedge funds…
Using Social Security Numbers to Root Out Employee Fraud
One of our most closely-guarded pieces of personal information, we nonetheless are obliged to divulge our Social Security numbers several times a year. You want a job? Hand it over. A client once approached us to see whether we could run a quick…
The Investigation Starts With the Client Interview
We have written extensively about the importance of good interview skills, in our blog entries "What Greg Smith and Goldman Sachs Tell Us About Investigations" and "Hiring Due Diligence Should Include an Attitude Check." Professionals…
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…
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.…
Can You Hear Me Now? You’re Fired.
Getting fired is never pleasant, and it’s even worse when it comes as a complete surprise. Getting fired as a surprise while you’re driving your car must be really awful. That’s how Yahoo! Inc. reportedly fired its CEO Carol…
