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About Board and Fraud

Board and Fraud is a blog that aims to bring a practical approach to issues facing the board of directors and the audit committee specifically in the area of governance, risk management, compliance, and internal audit, with a strong focus on fraud, ethics, and internal controls.

Combating Fraud Through Effective Internal Controls

“Fraud is not an accounting problem; it is a social phenomenon.” Joe Wells

Most companies will not readily admit that their organizations may be vulnerable to fraud.
According to the 2020 Report to the Nations published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (“ACFE”), which contains an analysis of approximately 2,500 cases of occupational fraud that were investigated between January 2018 and September 2019, organizations lose 5% of their annual revenues to fraud. While this number is only a general estimate based on the opinion, it represents the collective observations of anti-fraud experts who together have investigated hundreds of thousands of fraud cases. Based on the ACFE’s study, the median loss caused by frauds was $125,000, with 21.0% of the cases resulting in losses of at least $1 million.

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Board Member Composition: Participants, Passengers, and Prisoners?

As the organization’s ultimate decision-making body, the board of directors plays two critical roles: overseeing management on behalf of shareholders and other constituencies; and advising management, albeit with limited involvement in everyday company operations – nose in, hands off! The board should not attempt to run the operations of the organization; it should oversee how management runs the company.

I am amazed at how many members literally are not engaged, which reminded that one of the traits of an effective leader, or Pilot, is being a good team builder. But how can you build a good team if you don’t understand the players?  I’m not speaking about understanding their skills, I am speaking about understanding their level of engagement.  That amorphous concept most ignore.

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Compliance Thought Leaders You Should Be Following

Compiling a list of thought leaders in ethics and compliance is fun, but so challenging. There are simply too many thoughtful people in this field — which is itself enormous and wide-ranging — to call out everyone worth following. So below is a small slice of the thinkers in corporate ethics and compliance that I try to follow.

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Putting the Freud in Fraud – Part Two

While we can’t get into the mind of the white collar criminal, we can take a closer look at high-profile individuals who have perpetrated massive fraud at corporations and instances of fraud identified in practice, as well as some research, to help is identify a pattern of similar behavioral elements common to white-collar crooks and cultural elements common to their environments.

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So Your Investigation Was Shut Down

Boards and Audit Committee members this is a public service announcement.

You should be really digging in and asking why an investigation was shut down.

That is all!

13 Step FCPA Compliance Action Plan

January 11, 2011

Note:  The draft guidance is not prescriptive and does not detail specific anti-bribery measures, but instead adopts a principles-based approach, which is intended to be used

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Jonathan T. Marks, CPA, CFF, CFE

Partner, Firm Practice Leader – Global Fraud & Forensic Investigations, Compliance, & Integrity Services

Jonathan T. Marks is the original author and producer of Board and Fraud. He specializes in global and complex corporate investigations (White Collar Crime) and other investigations. He has 30+ years of experience working closely with clients, their board, audit committees, senior management, internal audit, compliance, legal & outside law firms on global and domestic fraud, misconduct, cyber incidents, bribery, money laundering, whistleblowers, retaliation matters, and conducting investigations when appropriate (10A, books and records, cross-border, FCPA, regulatory etc.). Jonathan determines economic damages, performs root cause analysis, develops remedial procedures, and designs and enhances governance, global risk management and compliance systems along with internal controls and policies and procedures. He also monitors tactics to mitigate future potential issues and testifies in the court-of-law when called upon. 

To learn more about what Jonathan T. Marks, or the Global Fraud and Forensic Investigation team and their services, select the button below.

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Baker Tilly US, LLP, trading as Baker Tilly, is a member of the global network of Baker Tilly International Ltd., the members of which are separate and independent legal entities. ©2022 Baker Tilly US, LLP

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