![[Gold bug created and photographed by Flickr subscriber rustyrabbit. Thanks to him for his artistic endeavors.]](/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?nodeguid=9ca67361-09c1-4a8a-97ae-189a25450f55)
[Gold bug created and photographed by Flickr subscriber rustyrabbit. Thanks to him for his artistic endeavors.]
During lean economic times, companies must implement best management practices to eliminate costs from operations. Equally important, companies must go a step further to guard themselves from occupational fraud and abuse and identity theft. These white-collar crimes inflict immense damage on society and individuals in terms of millions of dollars in lost investments, creditor losses from un-collectible debts, and life savings and employment losses. While both crimes are sometimes referred to interchangeably, there are subtle differences.
Occupational fraud and abuse, as defined by Joseph T. Wells, founder and Chairman of the Board of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and author of the excellent Corporate Fraud Handbook, is “the use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employing organization’s resources or assets.”
Frauds perpetuated by employees to obtain money are performed by one of three methods: coercion, deception or larceny.
Abuses brought about by employees to obtain money include, but are not limited to: false financial statements, graft, fictitious overtime, bogus sick time claims and unauthorized use of company assets for non-company purposes.
In contrast, identity theft is a special type of fraud where one’s identity is assumed by an unknown party to perform criminal acts and render economic losses. Identity theft can happen to individuals and businesses alike. Ronald H. Usem, a Minnesota attorney specializing in transportation, employment and corporate law issues, recommends brokers and shippers put into practice coding and ID procedures prior to loading trucks and paying invoices. Contracts and bills of laden should contain protective wording, and law enforcement authorities and credit reporting services should be notified verbally and in writing if you get scammed.
Concerning hiring procedures, most companies routinely perform credit and criminal background checks prior to extending offers of employment. While these reports may reveal driving violations, employment or rental problems, or poor credit and/or criminal convictions, more difficult to determine are character issues prevalent in potential new hires likely to engage in unethical, deceitful or criminal activity.
“Goldbugs” are unwittingly employed by businesses in a wide range of positions, from owners and executives, to managers and rank and file staff. Sam E. Antar, a former CPA and fraudster turned white-collar criminal fighter, warns employers in order to successfully uphold your company’s hiring processes and to protect your company’s financial well-being, ask probing questions, keep communications professional and don’t be fooled by interviewees flaunting their integrity. Always thoroughly verify the information obtained from the applicant. Remaining a viable business entity may depend upon it.
Tagged: abuse, antar, association, board, certified, coercion, companies, convictions, corporate, costs, cpa, creditor, crimes, criminal, crininal, debts, deception, e, economic, employment, examiners, false, fictitious, fighter, financial, fraud, fraudster, goldbugs, graft, handbook, identity, investments, joseph, larceny, life, loses, losses, management, of, operations, overtime, sam, savings, sick, society, statements, t, the, theft, time, uncollectible, wells, whitecollar