Fraud should be detected through effective internal control measures. However, in reality it is often uncovered by accident, through anonymous letters, or as a result of an unexpected business crisis. Appin helps its clients mitigate the costs of fraud through our extensive capability and wide-ranging experience in tackling these problems.

Sometimes the fraud evidence trail is straightforward, but often it has been deliberately concealed. Fraud can be committed by customers, suppliers, distributors, employees, or by management. It often involves collusion between two or more employees or between an employee and an external party. Fraud is often complex, difficult to unravel, and handling it requires specialist knowledge. Fraud is increasingly international in scope. Very few companies are equipped to investigate fraud when they become its victim.

Appin's cyber investigators have extensive experience in resolving a variety of complex white-collar crimes involving:

• Misappropriation of company funds
• False expense reporting
• Phantom vendors
• Manufacturing fraud
• Procurement fraud
• Payroll fraud
• Kickbacks and secret commissions
• Fraudulent insurance claim
• Distributor fraud

Our Approach

Dealing with fraud and financial investigations requires more than technical know-how. It requires speed, sensitivity and discretion. We understands the importance of reacting quickly and confidentially to a crisis. We appreciate the need to stop illegal activity, safeguard your company's assets and reputation, arrive at a resolution with as little disruption as possible to the regular flow of business, and prevent reoccurrences.

If your operation does become the victim of serious fraud, the survival of your business may be dependent on the successful recovery of lost assets. Investigating fraud to recover missing assets requires specialist skills that are not usually available in-house.

Appin provides a multi-disciplinary team of investigators, computer forensics specialists and forensic accountants (supplemented, if required, by industry experts) to help clients who are the victims of fraud.

Our fraud investigation answers your questions:

• What went wrong?
• How much money is involved?
• Where is the money, and how can we get it back?
• Who is responsible?
• What steps now need to be taken?
• Which controls failed?

Our investigation will assist you in the following ways:

• Quickly establishing what went wrong and developing a cost effective solution
• Collecting and securing vital evidence
• Obtaining information that the fraudster hoped to hide
• Conducting interviews with witnesses and suspects
• Identifying control weaknesses
• Investigating the quantum of the loss, including unforeseen losses
• Reconstructing damaged or incomplete accounting records
• Identifying potential recoveries, including from others less directly involved in the fraud, such as accomplices who laundered the proceeds
• Preparation of reports to support insurance claim, the initiation of civil proceedings or criminal complaints to law enforcement;
• And, if your business is regulated, the preparation of reports for regulators