Fraud Fighters Get Extra Help

All too often, they have no idea what hit them.

People defrauded of their homes or victimized in other property scams are wracked with despair when they realize they've been conned. Many times, they don't even know how it happened.

"I love to help figure it out," said Glenn Gulley, a real estate fraud investigator with the Stanislaus County district attorney's office. "You get to put all the pieces to a puzzle. There is not a more satisfying job in the world."

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Identity Theft in San Fran Takes Months to Investigate

With the mortgage meltdown, collapse of financial institutions and exposure of Bernard Madoff and the like, one would think now would be a good time to have all hands on deck for fraud investigations.

In San Francisco, one would be wrong.

The Police Department's fraud unit has been whittled to eight investigators, less than half of the 19 it had in 1990.

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Fraud Investigation Growing Strong

One of the few growth industries in the current economic climate? Fraud investigators.

Allegations of fraud are increasing, as the financial crisis drags on. As a result, reports the New York Times, people who are skilled at following the money have rarely been more in demand.

The FBI is recruiting new hires to work on a glut of cases -- it had more than 1600 open mortgage-fraud investigations at the end of fiscal 2008, almost twice as many as two years earlier.

And private fraud investigation firms are enjoying boom times. The number of certified examiners is said to be up 10 percent compared with last year.

Read more here.

Tulsa (OK) to Hire Fraud Investigator

The City of Tulsa plans to hire a fraud investigator, after federal officials revealed a public corruption case Thursday that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

Two former city workers and four local businessmen are accused of fraud and bribery. Larry Baker and Albert Martinez were high-ranking officials in Tulsa's engineering department.

The businessmen charged include Harlen Yocham of Yocham Enterprises; Max Wolf, president of Horizon Construction, Kenneth Shoemaker, president of FBS, Inc. and FBS Engineering; as well as Stewart Franklin, an accountant for FBS, Inc.

Tulsa city councilors are now questioning the checks and balances in place to detect fraud.

Read more at KJRH.com.

Fraud Investigation Business Booms in Weak Economy

Scott Stern was shot once and stabbed four times during his 12-year military- and law-enforcement career.

A long scar on his left knee from one attack is a permanent reminder of why Stern decided to take the security and investigation skills he honed in the public sector into private industry 14 years ago.

Possum Urine, Spent Syringes: Tools of Mortgage Scammers

Subprime loans are gone, but mortgage fraud is alive and well, a Freddie Mac mortgage fraud investigator says.

During the mortgage fraud boom, predatory borrowers overpriced properties, took out 100 percent financing, paid the seller a lower price and pocketed the rest. The scammer stopped paying the mortgage in a few months.

No longer, says Jenny Brawley, a mortgage fraud investigator at Freddie Mac.

“Most of my cases right now involve loans that are current,” she said this morning at the National Association of Realtors conference in Orlando

Nordstrom Arrests Result of In-Depth Investigation

Seven women accused of stealing and returning thousands of dollars of merchandise at Nordstrom stores for cash escaped notice for months, according to law enforcement investigators.

But the tide began to turn in May.

Some of the alleged thieves were store security employees, called loss prevention agents in modern retail parlance, and had a leg up on how to avoid getting caught stealing.
In fact, the alleged ringleader of the theft scheme, 26-year-old Rozita Davani, had been loss prevention manager at the King of Prussia store until she quit last spring.

Though the suspected thieves operated under the radar beginning in January, by May a seasoned Nordstrom investigator, Melissa Bridge, discovered numerous customer orders were missing, and began to unravel the alleged fraud that involved not only the King of Prussia Plaza store, but also stores in New Jersey and Maryland, according to court papers.

HIRE A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR TO PERFORM A FRAUD INVESTIGATION

A fraud investigation might be conducted in order to determine:whether or not there has been a sale of assets that were either misrepresented or fictitious;whether or not improper payments – kickbacks, illegal political donations, bribes, or payoffs – have been made from within the company;whether or not there has been some sort of intentional misrepresentation or assets, liabilities, transactions or income;whether or not there have been intentional pricing changes created to benefit the business financially;whether or not items have been deliberately left off the books; or fraud investigation may be handled by a private investigator. A private investigator may be brought in to conduct a fraud investigation to determine which asset was transferred improperly or to establish which employee may have defrauded the organization.

This can be done through deeper background checks to determine whether there are employees who had access to the assets upholstery cleaning tampa also have a criminal record. A private investigator can also conduct background checks into employees' credit histories, judgments and liens, even federal and civil records to determine whether or not red flags are present.

Often, a private investigator is called in to perform a fraud investigation after fraud has been discovered. He or she will be hired by the business to conduct full background searches upholstery cleaning service employees who may have been involved in misrepresenting assets, making improper payments, leaving items off the books or even embezzling.

In addition to a fraud investigation, a private investigator is likely to work with the business' executives to determine a plan for preventing fraud in the future. This may involve examining the policies and procedures that are currently in upholstery cleaners It may also involve implementing surveillance through cameras or by tracking programs installed on office computers.

By creating a fraud prevention strategy and by conducting a fraud investigation, a private investigator can help to put your business back on the right track.

Perhaps your business has not always taken the time to conduct thorough background investigations of applicants before hiring. Perhaps you are hoping that your business still has the opportunity to prevent fraud. Maybe you've been unfortunate memory foam air mattress and fraud has already taken place. Regardless of your situation, a fraud investigation can help to ensure that you are fully aware of what is taking place.

When that fraud investigation is conducted by a private investigator, you can also take measures to protect your business from future instances of fraud.

Fraud Scene Investigator

People don’t normally try to kill you for doing their taxes, but forensic accounting is a whole different ball game.

One morning a few years ago, forensic accountant Al Vondra was driving to work on Cleveland's Interstate 77 as he always did. But this day was different. As he was driving, all four tires on his Buick LeSabre suddenly exploded. The gas tank hit the ground at 65 miles per hour, and the car came to a grinding halt. Fortunately, nothing exploded, and Vondra was able to get to the side of the road and wait for the police.

Proposal for State Takeover of Fraud Probe Might Harm Rural Counties

A proposal for the state to take over fraud investigations of county-administered public assistance programs has apparently been put on hold for this year.

County family services officials, say, however, that they fear the proposal will resurface next year.

Port of Seattle Says it Will Hire Fraud Investigator

The Port of Seattle says it will hire an independent investigator to look into possible fraud and contracting problems identified in a state audit.

The port is asking state Auditor Brian Sonntag to recommend an investigator.

Commissioner Bill Bryant says the investigation is needed to restore public trust in the port, which operates Sea-Tac Airport and shipping on the Seattle waterfront.

The state audit found the port wasted $97 million in spending, including some overruns on the third runway project at the airport.