Mar 23
The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently published a summary of the testimony of US Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro regarding government efficiency and effectiveness. The GAO reports annually to Congress on federal programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives (both within departments and government-wide) that are fragmented, overlapping, or duplicative. It also identifies opportunities for cost savings …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/03/gao-reports-worsening-improper-payments/
Mar 17
The US Court of Appeals for the Second District has held that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) was within its rights to deny a whistleblower award to Larry Stryker under Section 21F of the Dodd-Frank Act (“Dodd-Frank”), 15 U.S.C. § 78u-6. From 2004-2009, Mr. Stryker submitted information to the SEC regarding alleged wrongdoing by Advanced …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/03/good-deed-performed-too-early-for-sox-award/
Mar 13
The Ponzi scheme orchestrated by R. Allen Stanford is among the most notable of our time and the Golf Channel might find itself among its extensive list of victims. The Fifth Circuit has given the go-ahead for the receiver to pursue $6 million of advertising fees paid by Stanford to the Golf Channel. The basis …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/03/golf-channel-may-lose-millions-in-stanford-ponzi-clawback/
Feb 24
The FBI has issued a warning for increasing levels of a type of fraud known as “business email compromises” that target companies that regularly wire funds to foreign third parties. In this scheme, an accounting officer is targeted with an email that appears to be originating from a company executive. In fact, upon closer inspection …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/02/fbi-business-email-compromise-alert/
Jan 21
An article recently published in the Wall Street Journal details how “the law of first digits”, also known as Benford’s Law, can uncover fraud. Benford’s Law, named after a 20th century American physicist, states that in nearly all real-world distributions of numbers the frequency of ones, twos, threes, and so on, in the first digit …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/01/mathematical-rule-uncovers-several-hundred-thousand-dollar-fraud/
Jan 20
The Australian division of Transparency International recently released a report assessing the adequacy of the G20’s whistleblower laws, regulations, and protections. The assessment was done in preparation for this past November’s G20 Summit, hosted in Australia, during which corporate and public fraud were top agenda topics. These nefarious activities have a substantial negative impact on …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/01/the-alarming-results-of-the-first-independent-review-of-the-g20s-whistleblower-policies/
Dec 21
The efforts to encourage and protect whistleblowers have been wide-reaching. However there are differences between the rewards and the protections based on the agency and laws involved. A recent case entitled Gary Vander Boegh v. EnergySolutions, Inc. demonstrated that not all protections are equal. Mr. Vander Boegh had previously engaged in a range of protected …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/12/whistleblower-protection-has-limits/
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/12/a-fishy-application-of-the-sarbanes-oxley-act/
Oct 13
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has announced that it will award over $30 million in its latest high profile payout to a whistleblower who provided key original information that led to a successful SEC enforcement action. The award is getting a lot of attention for a number of reasons. This $30 million amount is …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/10/whistleblower-program-to-pays-big-on-late-report-from-overseas/
Sep 09
A settlement agreement has been reached In the Matter of Lynn R. Blodgett, Adm. Proc. File No. 3-16045 (August 28, 2014), but without consensus on the part of the Securities Exchange Committee (“SEC”) as to the appropriate penalty. The underlying circumstances involve a financial fraud action against two executives at Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (“ACS”), Lynn Blodget, …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/09/fraudulent-revenue-recognition-causes-rift-at-the-sec/
Dec 09
A Fishy Application of the Sarbanes Oxley Act
December 9, 2014
The Supreme Court has been asked to decide the case of a commercial fisherman accused of harvesting fish too small to meet federal fishing guidelines. The reason the highest court in the US will hear the case? Federal prosecutors have applied provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in trying their case. The scope of such application is …
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