UK
Ireland
Fraud and financial crime support
From bribery and corruption to payment interception, fraud and financial crime pose a clear and present danger to businesses of all sizes, across every industry. With financial fraud alone said to cost the UK private sector over £150 billion each year [1], there’s no room for complacency.
Whether you’re dealing with occupational fraud among employees, falsified accounts or money laundering, a swift response is always critical. Quickly establishing the facts and developing a robust plan of action can make all the difference when recovering lost assets and minimising reputational damage.
No matter the gravity of the situation, you’re never alone. Our experienced team of forensic accountants, investigators and technology specialists will support your business at every stage of the journey. We can carefully evaluate your position through a bespoke financial crime or fraud investigation. And we’ll do our utmost to trace stolen assets and correctly prepare evidence for legal cases.
Which types of financial crime and fraud can we tackle?
No two financial crimes are the same so we’ve built expertise across a range of areas.
Our experts can respond to a wide variety of financial crime types, including bribery, money laundering and theft.
When it comes to financial fraud types, we have years of experience combatting occupational fraud, where employees manipulate financial statements, misappropriate assets or act in a corrupt way. We can also deal with the fallout from procurement fraud, where transactions aren’t fulfilled properly.
Guide: Investigation and prevention – protecting your business from within
Businesses’ exposure to the risks of bribery, tax evasion, and fraud place businesses at the forefront of the fight against economic crime. In this guide, explore how you can prevent, detect, respond to and recover from fraud.
What services do we offer to combat fraud and financial crime?
We work on cases both large and small, delivering a range of targeted, hands-on services that quickly get to the heart of the matter. Our tailored end-to-end solutions offer insights and assistance at each step.
Our main services in response to financial crime and fraud include:
- Support with financial investigations - We’ll help you evaluate suspected fraud, bribery and corruption, providing expert advice to determine how to proceed. A financial fraud investigation will guide you on the next steps to follow and where to report issues. We’ll also discuss actions you can take to avoid further losses, the access suspects have to your systems, and when lawyers and the police should get involved.
- Forensic data collection - Using the latest technology, our fraud and financial crime team will ensure any evidence in criminal and civil litigation cases conforms to the relevant legal and regulatory requirements, as well as court standards.
- Asset tracing assistance - We can follow stolen money using in-depth financial analysis. This can support freezing orders and civil recovery proceedings to identify hidden assets and recover funds.
- Collaborating with regulators - We work with regulatory authorities in the UK and overseas to achieve a speedy resolution and minimise any reputational damage. We can help companies quantify how much was lost and explain how the corporate financial fraud or crime occurred.
- Long-term prevention of bribery and corruption - We can also help you look at the bigger picture to prevent errors or system failures from happening again. Our experts will assess your requirements, before advising on the introduction and maintenance of effective compliance monitoring programmes.
Get in touch
Contact us today to get the help you need in fighting financial crime and fraud
Sources
[1] - https://financialaccountant.co.uk/features/protecting-clients-against-fraud/
Frequently asked questions about fraud and financial crime
What is financial fraud?
Financial fraud refers to any attempt to obtain money through deception and dishonesty.
A more detailed description from the International Standards on Auditing (UK) 240 defines fraud as: “An intentional act by one or more individuals among management, those charged with governance, employees, or third parties, involving the use of deception to obtain an unjust or illegal advantage.”
Meanwhile, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners defines fraud as “any activity that relies on deception in order to achieve a gain”.
There are various criminal offences relating to fraud under the Fraud Act, Companies Act, Theft Act and Insolvency Act. They include:
- Fraud by false representation
- Fraud by failing to disclose information
- Fraud by abuse of position
- Fraudulent trading
- False accounting
What financial fraud types can affect businesses?
The main type of financial fraud that can affect businesses is occupational, or insider, fraud. The main perpetrators of occupational fraud are employees, management or senior management (including directors).
There are three main categories of occupational fraud:
- Corruption, including conflicts of interest, kick-back schemes, inappropriate gifts or some form of extortion
- Asset misappropriation, including theft of cash on hand, diverting cash receivable, intercepting payments and inappropriate use of business assets
- Financial statement fraud, including falsifying accounting records, management accounts and annual financial statements
Other financial fraud types can exist outside companies. Businesses are susceptible to fraudsters posing as customers and ordering goods without the intent to pay for them, or suppliers lying about the goods they have provided or work they have carried out.
Fraudsters also target investment businesses in attempts to induce funding of fictitious or underperforming opportunities.
Fraud is distinct from cyber-crime, where there is an attack on the IT infrastructure of a business. However, fraud may be cyber-enabled, where fraudsters use technology to assist in committing it.
What is financial crime?
Europol defines financial crime as: “Illegal acts committed by an individual or a group of individuals to obtain a financial or professional advantage. The principal motive in such crimes is economic gain.”
Financial crime examples include theft, bribery, money laundering and tax evasion.
What should I do if I discover financial fraud in my business?
Speed of response is critical in the face of fraud, bribery, corruption or other types of financial crime. Being able to quickly establish the facts will help you put a robust plan in place to recover lost assets. Moving swiftly can also help you manage any damage to your reputation.
There are a range of urgent steps to consider if you suspect financial fraud has taken place:
- Form an initial hypothesis of what happened to understand the scale of the suspected fraud, and its impact on the business. This will help guide further action and the resources needed to investigate and resolve the suspected fraud
- Prevent further harm, including securing access to business systems and controls. You should also contact your banks about possible fraudulent payments and insurers of possible claims. It’s important to support your people through this difficult time too.
- Secure evidence. An expert should handle this to ensure any evidence isn’t tampered with or destroyed. A financial fraud investigator can also ensure you retain the integrity of the evidence so it is useful and admissible in any subsequent legal or employment action
- Bring in fraud and financial crime experts to guide you through your next actions
Who should investigate fraud?
Investigating suspected fraud carries the risk of further harm to the business. That’s why it’s important to choose skilled, experienced fraud investigators.
A financial fraud investigation team must have both legal expertise and investigation skills. Unlike volume or individual fraud, business fraud requires financial fraud investigators to understand how companies operate and have sound knowledge of financial data. This is because evidence of fraud can be hidden within a company’s books and accounting records.
Experienced forensic accountants can analyse financial data, extract evidence from accounting records, and then simplify or explain it so a judge or jury can understand what happened.
Forensic accountants work well with both businesses and legal advisers, advising on the commercial aspects of pursuing fraudsters and considering the options for recovery.
Why use a forensic accountant in a fraud or financial crime investigation?
Forensic accountants understand the financial records and processes of a business, its commercial drivers and pressures, the controls and procedures needed to mitigate risk, and how gaps in those controls may result in losses.
Forensic accountants also frequently work with legal advisers. They understand the importance of carrying out financial crime and corporate fraud investigations to certain standards to maintain the integrity and admissibility of evidence, ensuring any legal proceedings don’t fail.