Forensic Accounting is an unfortunate necessity in today’s environment of financial risk, lack of integrity, and excessive greed. Forensic Accounting utilizes accounting, auditing, and investigative skills to conduct an examination in order to provide an accurate analysis for shareholders, investors, spouses, heirs, or other interested parties.
We are trained and certified in forensic accounting to look beyond the numbers and deal with the business reality of a situation. We are CPAs, CFEs, CAMs and even Private Investigators with expertise in financial analysis, criminal fraud examination, and testifying in the court room or providing attorneys with valuable financial information to help their case. Forensic Accountants are not just accountants, but a rare breed with skills in scrutinizing & analyzing financial documents included but not limited to: bank statements, audited and unaudited financial statements, retirement and investment portfolios, court records, contracts and legal decrees. These specialists understand how to breakdown a complex accounting situation and provide a layman’s understanding and explanation of the most intricate details. They know how to identify and target the transactions with the highest fraud risk.
We have a wide range of clients from interested individuals who have serious concerns about their personal investments or the spouse who is going through a divorce who suspects the other has misappropriated money from their joint earnings.
Recently, an Indianapolis woman in the process of divorce hired us to analyze her net worth for the divorce proceedings. Although her yearly income was well over 6-digits, the couple’s joint bank account was surprisingly low. Our client was very confused as to where all of her hard earned money went. Her regular bills were average and she didn’t live extravagantly. We examined several years of financial account statements and uncovered many interesting transactions that required further testing. We identified thousands of dollars that were intentionally diverted to other accounts without our client’s knowledge.
A common theme we’ve seen in our years of forensic accounting experience is that when life is busy and time is at a premium, not everyone keeps up with all of the transactions coming from their accounts or has any idea that they’re being pilfered. While our client was busy earning the money, her spouse had the responsibility of paying the monthly bills, and unfortunately made the decision to violate his marital trust by redistributing the wealth into his secret personal accounts.
Fortunately, we were able to “Follow the Money” on our client’s behalf and provide support that the dishonest spouse was structuring a divorce years in advance.
