If you are the victim of a fraud within your business you will likely be very angry. The immediate reaction is…. to react! This can sometimes make the problem worse. You can’t simply sack a suspect employee, march round to their house and search through the contents of their home study in the hope of [...]
These days confiscation cases seem to outnumber the predicate fraud cases that Mark Jenner & Co assists with. They are self funding for the authorities who will not be cutting back on this area – even if they are forced to make financial cutbacks elsewhere. According to the CPS, targets for confiscations will increase to [...]
It is essential that businesses are aware of the seriousness with which the authorities regard money laundering – the legislation has been termed “Draconian” and turning a blind eye to any form of criminality these days can present the risk of lengthy prison terms for innocent parties that are exploited by criminals. Fraud Advisory Services [...]
How do you choose a forensic accountant? Many people think that one forensic accountant is the same as any other - some think that the more you pay the better service you will get. As with all other professional services this is of course very far from the truth, as there are many different forensic accountants on the market, all with vastly [...]
The “credit crunch” was named after the irresponsible lending practices by the banks and other financial institutions that were out of control when they reached their peak in around 2007. It had become possible for virtually anybody to approach a property developer and start buying properties without having any capital to invest. The driving force [...]
A forensic audit is an investigation conducted by forensic accountants. It is almost certainly going to be a fraud investigation – either investigating a suspected fraud, checking to see if an organisation may be suffering from fraud or even just examining the risk of it becoming a victim of fraud in the future. A forensic [...]
If you’re planning to purchasing a house with a mortgage, you must ask yourself, “how much house can i afford?”. This is because how big and expensive a house you can afford depends on your home loan amount. Once you find a house that befits your affordability, shop around to obtain a suitable home loan. [...]
There has always been a significant use of tax legislation in the fight against serious and organised crime. Al Capone was a raketeer, an extortionist and a murderer, yet was put behind bars for tax evasion. Since the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 this has become a common place theme and many criminals large and [...]
The cases listed below represent the following areas of forensic accounting work carried out by Mark Jenner & Co: CRIMINAL DEFENCE EXPERT WITNESS – Forensic accountancy and litigation support services for white collar criminal defence lawyers and their clients. PROCEEDS OF CRIME & CONFISCATIONS – Expert analysis of the Crown’s S16 reports with the production [...]
At present there is a greatly fragmented group of organisations responsible for the prosecution of fraud within the UK. This results in a lack of cohesion in the approach and many potentially successful fraud cases brought against serious fraudsters have collapsed as a result of the lack of communication between the many fraud agencies. There [...]
The incidence of mortgage fraud appears to be increasing. Much of it has been coming to light as a result of the down turn in the property market that accompanied the current general economic down turn or “credit crunch”. When property values reduce to below the level of the mortgage that has been advanced on it [...]
The Labour government has been criticised widely for the huge raft of legislation it has introduced in its 12 or so years of reign. Much of it has been lengthy and often arguably unnecessary. The burden of regulation on any business attempting to obtain business loans and trying to struggle through the current down turn has [...]
A newsletter for fraud practitioners The New Year has got off to a flying start with a number of new cases waiting for me on my return from what must have been the coldest holiday on record – I spent the first few days of 2010 in New York! Suffice to say it was not [...]
Use of an expert witness in civil litigation A long raging argument over proportionality of expert witness costs has resulted in a fundamental review of the rules and procedures governing the costs of civil litigation. Lord Justice Jackson was appointed by the Master of Rolls in 2008 to carry out this review culminating in his [...]
When compiling the list of top ten Christmas scams for people to watch out for, the ones targeting relaxed people at home and in a festive mood spring to mind. However, if many of the population are more vulnerable at this time this does not mean that they should be complacent at others. All these [...]
Phishing is a form of identity theft. It involves the fraudsters sending large numbers of spam emails out to unsuspecting Internet surfers. The email appears to be from a reputable source such as a high street bank. The logos being used and often the email address look genuine and many recipients consider the emails to [...]
The various forms of taxation are components making up a very complex area involving extensive legislation and case law. Its complexity makes it very much a specialist subject within both the legal and accountancy professions. Investigating tax fraud is an even more specialist subject within the field. Such complexity and variation means that it is no [...]
During a recession you would think that investors would be more careful with their money. Is it the lure of high interest rates when conventional financial services products offer such a low return that encourages otherwise astute people to invest their wealth with fraudsters – or is it possibly greed that blinkers them to the risks involved [...]
It appears that the toy retailer Toys R Us is the latest big business to demonstrate how easy it is for the fraudster to attack if simple anti fraud prevention methods are not observed. Embezzlement master Paul Hopes stole some £3.7 million from the toy giant in 14 sums ranging from £101,000 to £350,000 at [...]
Most fraud cases investigated by Mark Jenner & Co involve some interaction with a bank. It may be simply through the examination of bank statements for an account used to launder proceeds of crime or it might be an investment scam used to steal large sums of money from high value clients in a Ponzi [...]