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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 notice the decline in sales, the inventory decrease, the increase in accounts receivable, and realize it does not all add up. Sage Investigations, LLC has been called to examine several matters, all having different activities affecting the company’s books and dealing with receipt theft. The previous matter involving the international company and ghost employees has been settled with a civil lawsuit filed and a change to the American manager and the vendor.
During the pandemic, a manufacturer contacted Sage for a free consultation. Over Zoom, we discussed their suspicions, including stealing cash from the Point of Sale system and the removal of inventory by an employee. The employee was selling on eBay, for his own gain, the merchandise stolen from the company. It appears the small business has lost nearly $500,000 from the eBay sales scheme.
This is examples of how fraud and theft can impact a small business. When fraudsters look to steal money from a company, they look for a business with weak internal controls such as doctor’s offices, law practices, restaurants, night clubs, and car dealerships, to name a few. Absentee owners, in partnership, will also notice that their income distributions have decreased and want to know why.
Sage Investigations, LLC is uniquely positioned and able to help your clients determine why the decreases occurred and make recommendations. Most of these determinations can be made via the use of computer access to data. We analyze the company books, records, bank accounts, etc. to determine the extent of the fraud and to help stop and prevent fraud from further damaging their business.
When You Need an expert in identifying and preventing Business Fraud, Call Ed Martin at 512-659-3179.
