Non-Profit Fraud, Another Church, Another CFO
This time is was $900k being separated from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. What’s killing me it that it was the CFO. Another clue, from the article “…she liked to play the slots at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City…”. Over a 6 year period of time this money diss appeared. Would had been discovered if it was under $100k per year?
Financial Deceit in Divorce
CPA Jerome Johnson, principle of The Forensic Firm in New Mexico has an excellent video, which discusses the issue of spouses hiding assets.
It’s Scammertime!
As we close in on April 15, the traditional tax filing hysteria with all the media attention helps spawn another side industry – tax scams. This time of year criminals use the fear of IRS to prey on victims and get them to disclose valuable info to steal identities and money. The IRS issued a warning recently about one scam that offers free money to taxpayers who have little or no income based on the American Opportunity Tax Credit. Promoters take money to file fraudulent returns applying for bogus refunds. These tax schemes are often promoted to members of local…
Fake Audit Reports and Fake Financial Reporting
Always, always, always, call the auditor who prepared the statements to determine whether you have real statements. We just did this on our “Invisible Children” post … and they were delighted to talk to us! (P.S. They said good things about Invisible Children) Also check with the State Board of Accountancy look-up to see if they really have a license. It’s easy. We’ve found auditors who had expired licenses or were not licensed to present audit opinions. I even found a case where the “client” stole CPA letterhead and published his own audit! This is the perfect example of a…
Kony 2012, Invisible Children, Scam or Not?
37,000,000 hits on you tube. Only about 1,000,000 likes. About 32,000 dislikes. (This is as of March 8, 2012.) Apparently not a whole lot of people went through the whole 29 minute video. Many comments are found on You Tube and Facebook that this is a scam initiated by Invisible Children. Let’s do some rudimentary detective work! We called the auditors, Considine and Considine, a CPA firm founded in 1946, and verified that they prepared the statements, and have been the auditors for five years. (Real CPAs such as these would not be associated with a scam.) Invisible Children raised…
Divorce Fraud – Hidden Income – Find It!
It’s always stunning to me how many families represent almost no taxable income but live in splendor in vast palatial estates in fancy neighborhoods. They often have a matched pair of incredibly expensive German cars in the driveway. Their kids go to private schools and the family passports are stamped from a variety of exotic getaways. Then a separation prior to divorce occurs. The in-spouse (controller of the business) represents to the family law courts almost no income. The out-spouse is enraged, but can’t prove the family income because they have limited records. Doomed to a life of despair among…