Today, individuals are divorcing only to remarry a few months or years later. Whether you are male or female, if you have separate property, such as a residence, rental property, gold & silver, stocks, and bonds, or cash in your mattress, you should consider a...

This article continues the series of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans. We are five years into PPP loan prosecutions, and the US Attorneys are still prosecuting egregious cases. President Biden extended the statute of limitations on the PPP loan fraud from 5 to...

Experience has shown that embezzlers are opportunists that find weaknesses in systems and exploit them. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners issued their Occupational Fraud 2024 Report to the Nations a Global Study[1]. The study shows as it did in the past...

The same principles of tracing assets that apply to martial divorce with the division of assets apply to business ventures where business partners form a business with success and profit in mind. The partners work together for a few years and develop dislikes because...

Attorneys whose clients have financial problems requiring financial analysis and investigation might be unsure if they need a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or a Financial Forensic Investigator. We want to identify what each does so you can choose wisely according...

A female entrepreneur was approached by a person who posed as a CPA with whom she had a business relationship in the past. The CPA impersonator referred her to contact an SBA “agent” to help fund a project she was initiating. The entire relationship was fostered over...

This article is beneficial knowledge for all businesses. The Internal Revenue Service has known where the tax abuse has occurred for years. On September 8, 2023, they announced a new enforcement initiative to use artificial intelligence and other technologies to catch...

In the era of online banking and electronic transactions, ensuring the safety and security of your financial information is crucial. Unfortunately, scammers are constantly devising new strategies to manipulate unsuspecting individuals. One such scam involves the use...

In today’s complex business landscape, the risk of theft and fraudulent activities is a constant concern for businesses of all sizes. With the cost of goods and services rising, corporate fraud is also increasing. To combat this fraud threat, companies often rely on a...

The process of divorce can be emotionally and financially draining for your clients. Dividing assets and liabilities presents a significant challenge, especially when one spouse suspects the other of hiding or dissipating assets. In such cases, the technique known as...

Do you need to follow the money? Unfortunately, corporate fraud and asset misappropriation are common in all businesses, regardless of size. In fact, studies show that 57% of fraud is committed by company insiders, with employee theft costing businesses nearly $50...

Asset misappropriation and check fraud pose significant threats to businesses and organizations. Detecting and preventing such fraudulent activities is a complex task requiring expertise and specialized knowledge. This is where forensic accountants, armed with their...

One crucial aspect of ensuring your client gets the best settlement is the process of accurate tracing, which involves identifying and quantifying marital and non-marital assets to ensure a just distribution. Unfortunately, when tracing is done incorrectly or...

Everyone in business has a trusted assistant—someone you hire for the job or someone through working together. As you progress in your business, you rely increasingly on that person. Their responsibilities increase, and they put you at ease when under stress by...

The use of computers in business is as necessary as breathing fresh air. Businesses with access to public information such as credit card numbers, social security or employment identification, dates of birth, names, and addresses must maintain a secure computer server...

If you plan to be married, it is in your best interest to protect your assets in case of a divorce. You would much rather be financially sound than devastated if a divorce does occur. The primary way to protect your assets is to locate an Estate and Trust Attorney to...

Number one on the IRS 2023 Dirty Dozen list is the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) misuse. This refundable tax credit is designed to reward business owners for retaining employees throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. IRS is cautioning business...

With advances in technology and the growing complexity of global banking and business, numerous new avenues of deceit are created daily for swindlers to mask illegal and fraudulent activity. The money movement between companies, governments, and individuals has become...

In divorce matters, a spouse may be exposed to constructive fraud through the waste of community assets by the other spouse. In community property states, spouses have a fiduciary duty to each other and place trust in each other to be responsible for the community...

With advances in technology and the growing complexity of global banking and business, numerous new avenues of deceit have been created for swindlers to mask illegal and fraudulent activity. In this digital age, the movement of money between companies, governments,...

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ “Report to the Nations – 2022 Global Fraud Study” revealed how occupational fraud is detected in business[1]. Occupational fraud occurs when an employee, manager, or executive of an organization deceives the organization...

It has been published that some Attorneys have reached a point in their careers where they are burned out and maybe even considering a change of profession. It is known that the COVID-19 months of isolation have taken their toll and have reduced the desire for some...

Forensic accounting[1] investigates financial transactions and business situations to obtain the truth and develop an expert opinion regarding possible fraudulent activity. Two areas of expertise make up the field of forensic accounting: Litigation support and...

As a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) of 30-plus years and retired federal agent, it is part of my job to educate the community and provide information that will help people identify scams and prevent them from losing their hard-earned money. The Sage Team has compiled...

Early on, the Texas Supreme Court established the basic principles of tracing separate property. Where separate and community funds were commingled in a bank account, it was considered impossible to segregate the funds.[1] In 1976 James D. Stewart adopted from Farrow...

It is nearing the end of 2022, and like every other year, fraud is the cases worked on by the Sage Team. The Sage Team has been hired to handle fraud cases by corporations, attorneys, and accounting departments. We saw a lot of occupational fraud throughout the year,...

Tracing Essentials If your client is contemplating marriage after the death of a spouse or divorce and the client was left with a high net worth, it is necessary to protect their separate property before their remarriage. It is best since you are marshaling the assets...

Business attorneys like yourself are always trying to help clients prevent fraud in their businesses. To prevent fraud, it is critical first to encourage your clients to develop a policy to deter fraud and make employees aware of the impact of fraud on the...

During the tax shelter years, individuals would invest in schemes to save money on federal income tax owed. As a result, scores of people lost money and became part of a con man's "sucker list." In early 2001, there was a fraud scheme in Las Vegas where sales...

Written by Edmond Martin, CFE, TBCI, and Daniel Fannin, CPA, CFE, CAMS – of Sage Investigations, LLC.  A retired individual and his wife divorced after more than 25 years of marriage. They sold their family home, and he received half of the proceeds totaling $175,000,...

The Texas Constitution, Article XVI, Sec. 15, defines Separate Property as all real and personal property of a spouse owned or claimed before marriage, and that was acquired afterward by gift, devise, or descent shall be the separate property of that spouse.[1] States...

All of the below best practices are implemented by Sage Investigations, LLC in the bank analyses and the tracing analyses through algorithms and DIO, a proprietary technology. Utilize technology to convert account activity from paper or PDF formats to a format that...

The old style of robbery is resurging but with a different slant. Instead of robbing the bank, they rob the customers or you with a silver tongue in a romance scheme. Individuals emerging from COVID want the freedom of 2018 – 2019, but things have changed. We are now...

The time and circumstances of its acquisition determine the nature of property as separate or community. The Texas Constitution, Article XVI, Sec. 15, defines Separate Property as all property, both real and personal, of a spouse owned or claimed before marriage, and...

The not so Good Cryptocurrencies (Crypto) such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and hundreds more are hot commodities in online trading, and an intelligent investor can make a big profit[1]. Things have changed in one month. A Wall Street Journal Opinion by Andy...

The Good Cryptocurrencies (Crypto) such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and hundreds more are hot commodities in online trading, and it's possible for a smart investor to make a big profit[1]. The Bad The prospect of quick riches can blind individuals to the risks and...

Account takeover fraud (ATO) generally happens when a cybercriminal gains access to the victim's login credentials to steal funds or information. Fraudsters digitally break into a financial bank account to take control of it and have a variety of techniques at their...

The increase of scams continues to attempt to separate good-hearted people from their money. Scammers know most people, regardless of their country of origin, are good-hearted people, and they cannot resist taking advantage of tragedies to devise a scheme that will...

Often, you hear on the news, read on the internet, or in a magazine about one family member stealing the identity of another family member; parents securing credit cards, purchasing a vehicle, stealing tax refunds and insurance checks, or securing a mortgage in the...

In the previous articles (reference September and October), we discussed the estate of individuals that have amassed substantial wealth and how executors and beneficiaries react to the exposure to such wealth. An executor or executrix of an estate is an individual...

Based on cases and the experience Sage Investigations, LLC gleaned from those cases, Sage has identified an area of investigation that we refer to as the Inheritance Investigations. Weekly we receive a call from frustrated individuals dealing with an executor,...

Based on cases and the experience Sage Investigations, LLC gleaned from inheritance cases; Sage has identified an area of investigation that we refer to as the Inheritance Investigative. Weekly we receive a call from frustrated individuals dealing with a brother or...

Sage Investigations transforms investigations from weeks or months to days with their advanced technology proprietary software, DIO.   DIO financially analyzes bank accounts, brokerage accounts, and credit card accounts in theft and embezzlement cases, divorce...

News articles reveal that the Biden Administration is proposing an increase in the IRS budget by $13.2 billion to help with modernization, cybersecurity, and to help with compliance. It is expected that by employing 8,493 more full-time employees, every $1.00 spent on...

With isolation caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, surviving businesses have discovered fraudulent activities (Read more). Business owners have had time to review their business activities, CPA’s continue to work on the company books and reconcile bank accounts. They...

With isolation caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, businesses will discover fraudulent activities. Owners will look at the activities of their business, the company books, bank accounts, the decrease in sales, and the increase in inventory and realize it all does not...

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-97) modified the child tax credit (CTC) to provide a nonrefundable credit for qualifying dependents other than children (ODC) and amended Section 6695(g) to add due diligence requirements to cover eligibility to file...

Edmond (Ed) Martin from Sage Investigations brings insight, understanding, integrity, and professional objectives with no bias. Knowledge Training Accounting degree Skills Education Experience With Ed’s knowledge and skills developed over 50+ years as an investigator,...

Scenario: A number of years ago a dominant sibling took over the operation of a business from the elderly founder of a company. This sibling has made some poor decisions and has allowed greed to enter his heart. What should the other siblings do to attempt to save the...