Fraud Eats Strategy

In this episode, we discuss trade-based money laundering. According to the intergovernmental money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), there are three primary methods that transnational criminal and terrorist organizations utilize to launder the proceeds of illicit activity and use illicit proceeds to finance terrorist operations. 1. Through the use...

The Carrasco case is a cross-border financial crime that is worth revisiting. Its lessons remain as relevant today as they were in 1998 when the fraud first erupted. For more information visit: https://whitecollarforensic.com/

Conducting investigations in certain parts of the world can be challenging because of the business practices, language barriers and cultural differences. In some of those countries, they are discouraged or even unlawful. When you overlay travel restrictions during a global health crisis, challenging doesn’t begin to describe it.   In this episode, we discuss how global organizations are a microcos...

Most financial services companies above a certain size have one or more Financial Investigations Units (FIUs) and Special Investigations Units (SIUs) to investigate various threats against the institution and/or its customers. The missions vary from those that narrowly focus on risks such as card fraud and elder financial fraud, to those focused broadly on both insider and external threats against...

In this episode we look inside the United Nations and its various agencies. We assess the harsh reality of endemic corruption in how governments intersect with UN agencies. Given its unique mission, the nature of how it is funded and disbursed funds largely for things such as large-scale infrastructure building, healthcare, education and peace-keeping, and the fact that its employees and officers...

In this episode we examine pump and dump schemes in which thinly traded penny stocks are held by unscrupulous broker-dealers through nominees who push the stock on unsophisticated investors, drive up the share prices and then sell their shares at inflated prices causing the stock value to drop significantly. The term pump and dump is not widely known outside of securities enforcement but the names...

In this episode, we’re going to explore the little-known area of “shadow investigations” in which accounting firms oversee internal investigations being performed by outside counsel and their forensic investigations counterparts in an effort to ensure the investigation is scoped appropriately such that it will provide sufficient information for the audit partner to comfortably sign off on the audi...

In this episode of Fraud Eats Strategy , we discuss why we need compliance officers now more than ever. The workforce that emerges from the combination of stay at home orders and the financial crisis will be very different than ever before. Each of us is dealing with unprecedented levels of stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. These external stressors can cause people in positions of trust to suspend...

In today's episode, we examine the often opaque, secretive world of fine art and how billions of dollars, a lot of which is from unknown origins, leads to the sales of fine art. Joining us to talk about this subject is Kobre & Kim partner Rob Rathmell. Rob specializes in providing offensive, counter-offensive, and defensive strategies for high-net-worth individuals and institutions in internationa...

In this episode we discuss the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions and other areas of sanctions compliance and the inherent challenges of operating a company in compliance with U.S. and international sanctions when the lists of sanctioned parties are a moving target. Joining us are two experts on the subject of U.S. Trade and Economic Sanctions, Arnold & Porter Partner Baruch Weiss a...

In this episode, we discuss the rapidly expanding use of artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotic process automation to undertake trade surveillance and mitigate fraud. Joining me today are two experts on the subject of Artificial intelligence from both the technical and legal and compliance perspectives.  For more information visit: https://whitecollarforensic.com

In this episode, we talk about the uncomfortable and sometimes terrifying situation when a compliance officer must critique a member of leadership team and living to tell about it. In recent years, the expression “tone at the top” has been displaced by “conduct at the top” ushering in a new era of leadership accountability and transparency by the DOJ and other enforcement agencies in the U.S. and...

In this episode, we talk about why this may be exactly the right time to perform a meaningful fraud risk assessment. Fraud risks are like potential explosions. The vulnerability of fraud can lay dormant for years until and unless someone in a position to exploit the control weakness, formulates a rationalization and is off and running. Joining us today is Bruce Dorris CEO and President of Associat...

In this episode, we talk about the importance of seeing your compliance program through the government’s eyes. The DOJ Fraud Section recently released its latest update to their guidance on evaluation of corporate compliance programs. While it does not represent a major rewrite, it did provide further clarity on the government’s expectations on post-merger integration, continuous program improveme...

In this episode, we talk about one of the more challenging aspects of regulatory compliance - measuring return on investment. Important elements of an effective compliance program include confidential reporting and investigations. Today we speak to two subject matter experts on confidential reporting, Carrie Penman, Chief Compliance Officer of NAVEX Global, a widely noted compliance luminary and K...

In this second episode of Fraud Eats Strategy, Scott Moritz speaks to Neil Barofsky, a partner at Jenner & Block and the former Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program about these issues. We will explore the increased discovery of financial crimes that occur in a down cycle of the economy and how organizations can use fraud risk assessments to identify fraud, pursue avenues...

In this first episode of Fraud Eats Strategy with Scott Moritz he speaks to former Enron Whistleblower Sherron Watkins about the many red flags that were ignored, the ill-fated board decisions and the wide-ranging complicity that led to Enron’s implosion.   Sherron’s memo to former Enron leadership warned of the accounting irregularities that would cause the company to “implode in a wave of accoun...

In this introduction, you will meet Scott Moritz, President of White Collar Forensic. The series features a deep dive into the various ways fraud can affect each and every one of us. Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators,...