I am a founding member of Fulcrum Inquiry, an accounting and economic consulting firm that performs damage analysis for commercial litigation, forensic accountings, financial investigations, and business valuations. I am a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV), a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and am a licensed Real Estate Broker. I regularly serve as an expert witness involving results of my forensic accounting assignments and damage analyses.
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The Federal Trades Commission (FTC) released its annual report of consumer complaints (See entire report here). The study indicated that more than 1.8 million complaints were received in 2011, which was a 24 percent increase from 2010. The following are the top 10 types of complaints received by the FTC in 2011: Rank Category …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/03/ftc-releases-annual-report-of-consumer-complaints/
Normally, when you receive any reduction in the amount of debt you owe someone it is a taxable event. For example, if you owe someone $10,000 and the lender forgives $5,000 of that debt, that $5,000 is consider income and you have to pay tax on that amount. Under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/02/mortgage-tax-relief-on-debt-forgiveness-ending-this-year/
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) is being closely watched with high-tech audit tools. The SNAP program is commonly referred to as the food stamp program. The program began in 1939 in order to assist low income Americans during the Great Depression. The program was overhauled in 1964, 1977 and more currently in 1990s. In …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/01/government-entity-uses-high-tech-audit-tools/
With the holidays upon us, it is interesting to note that many Americans do not take all their annual vacation. The following statistics were reported in various conducted: The average American worker earns 14 days of vacation but will only take 12 of them (Expedia survey) The average American employee leaves 6.2 days of paid …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/12/americans-unused-vacation-time-can-hurt-both-employees-and-employers/
This week, PWC released their Global Economic Crime Survey [Click here to see the actual survey]. No company is immune from fraud risk. Significant motivators of fraud are economic pressure, rationalization and opportunity (often described as the “Fraud Triangle”). Although the study reports that account fraud has dropped to 16% compared to 24% in 2009, …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/12/fraud-on-the-rise-in-u-s-companies/
Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was estimated to be $64.8 billion. These are amounts that customers supposedly held at his investment firm as of November 30, 2008. However, the $64.8 billion does not reflect actual customer losses. That number is estimated to be $17.3 billion. The trustee, Irving Picard, has already recovered $8.7 billion. A majority …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/11/madoff-victims-may-get-full-recovery/
On October 1, 2011, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will reduce the size of mortgages it purchases. The new lower limit will be $625,500, down from the current $729,750. For most of the United States, this should be no big deal. However, in some pricey places, this change can really hurt borrowers. Limits are set …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/09/new-mortgage-limits/
The IRS has created two disclosure programs where approximately 30,000 tax cheats have come clean. The IRS has created these voluntary disclosure programs in a larger effort to identify and pursue U.S. taxpayers who avoid paying taxes by hiding assets in overseas accounts. Efforts by the IRS began in 2009, after Swiss bank UBS AG agreed to …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/09/30000-tax-cheats-confess-under-irs-programs/
The U.S. Government sued 17 financial firms today, including some of the U.S.’ largest banks, for selling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac billions of dollars of toxic mortgage back securities. The suits was filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which overseas both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Residential mortgage-backed securities were risky investments that turned …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/09/government-slaps-banks-with-lawsuit-over-toxic-mortgages/
The ongoing dispute between Mattel Inc. (the toy giant best known for its line of Barbie dolls) and MGA Entertainment over rights to the Bratz doll line has resulted in a $308 million decision in favor of MGA. The Bratz dolls have pouty lips, hip hop-style clothing and oversized feet, and are aimed at girls ages 9 to 11. The …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/08/mattel-ordered-to-pay-rival-309m-over-bratz-dolls/
