Accounts Payable (AP) Fraud: Critical Steps and “How To” Guidance to Minimize Your Organization’s Exposure to AP Fraud FEATURED FACULTY: Peter Goldmann, CFE, President, White-Collar Crime 101 LLC/FraudAware 1-800-440-2261 [email protected] Peter Goldmann, CFE, President, White-Collar Crime 101 LLC/FraudAware Peter is founder and President of White-Collar Crime 101 LLC, the parent company of FraudAware and publisher of the monthly newsletter, White-Collar Crime Fighter. Peter has been the Publisher and Editor of White-Collar Crime Fighter for over 12 years and is recognized as a leading expert in the areas of fraud detection, prevention, investigation and training. 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Procure to Pay Fraud Detection and Prevention This training session is sponsored by © 2013 ComplianceOnline www.complianceonlie.com ©2013 Copyright Peter Goldmann President and Founder of White Collar Crime 101 & FraudAware Co-Developer of IAPP AP Fraud and AR Fraud Webinar series Author of “Detecting and Preventing Fraud in Accounts Payable” (available at www.iappnet.org) Monthly columnist, The Fraud Examiner, ACFE Newsletter Member of Editorial Advisory Board, ACFE Speaker at numerous fraud prevention association events. Author of “Anti-Fraud Risk and Control Workbook” (Wiley) University of Michigan, BA; London School of Economics, MSc 1 Today’s Agenda Introduction Fraud Statistics Why People Steal Tone at the Top Communicating Integrity HR Policy: Compensation, Performance Reviews, Team Spirit, Career Opportunities Ethics Policy, Compliance Policy and FRAUD POLICY Fraud Response Plan Your Questions Fraud: The Big Picture According to major accounting firms, professional fraud examiners and law enforcement: Fraud jumps significantly during tough economic times Business losses due to fraud increased 20% in last 12 months, from $1.4 million to $1.7 million per billion dollars of sales. (Kroll 2010/2011 Global Fraud Report) Average cost to for each incident of fraud is $160,000 (ACFE) Of Financial Statement fraud: $2 million Approx. 60% of corporate fraud committed by insiders (PwC) Approx. 50% of employees who commit fraud have been with their employers for over 5 years (ACFE) 2 P2P Fraud Perpetrators Procurement Phase Dishonest Purchasing Staff (Billing/sham supplier schemes) Senior Management (Overriding controls/Bid-rigging) Department heads (Ordering unneeded goods & services) P-Card holders (Making unauthorized purchases) Receiving Phase Dishonest Shipping/Receiving Employees AP Staff (Diverting deliveries) Collusive parties – Purchasing or AP staff with suppliers Payment Phase Dishonest AP staff Fraudulent suppliers/billing Check fraudsters (Internal AND External) Procurement Fraud Risks External and internal supplier schemes (double billing; sham supplier schemes by insiders OR outsiders) Collusion between Procurement and suppliers: P-Card Fraud: External versus Internal Abuse of bidding process (Bribery/Kickbacks) Unauthorized purchases by procurement staff Embezzlement 3 Invoicing/Billing Schemes/Shell Company Scams How it works: Accounting/purchasing employee creates “shell company.” Fraudster generates bogus invoices from phony company. Forges approval and has invoice submitted for payment. Checks go to phony company P.O. box that fraudster controls. Supplier Master File Fraud How it works: Absence of controls over who can add new suppliers to SMF allows dishonest employees to add sham suppliers to SMF and then generate phony invoices. Abuse of dormant or phony accounts. If phony suppliers have been added, or inactive ones used to commit billing fraud, you may not find out about them w/out a thorough “cleaning” (ideally 2X/year). Fraudulent alteration of existing supplier data in SMF—such as payment instructions (e.g., changing from check to ACH using employee’s bank account data—details upcoming.) 4 Collusive Procurement Fraud/Corruption How it works: Bid rigging Bribery Kickbacks Often combined with each other, depending on the opportunity and nature of the project P-Card Fraud How it works: Most frauds committed by outsiders (AFP) — via stolen card or counterfeiting cards with stolen PII. Insider P-Card fraud: Employees are responsible for 27% of P-card fraud (AFP). Making personal or other unauthorized purchases in a company w/ inadequate control. Split purchases Mixed purchases Excess goods purchased “Gift” Lists (“Susan”, The Overly-Generous Sales Rep) 5 P-Card Fraud Case Study: Thomas Coughlin, former co-chairman of WalMart earned a base salary and bonuses of $4 - $5 million. Coughlin initiated numerous illegal purchases; some involved use of a subordinate’s Wal-Mart P- Card to buy store gift cards which Coughlin used to pay for cartons of vodka, beer and other personal items. Was part of a larger abuse of authority which ended with a total tab of $500,000 worth of fraudulently obtained goods and services including, a pair of $5,000 alligator cowboy boots. “Straw Suppliers” Creating a shell company that purchases items the organization actually needs, then marking up the prices and selling them to the organization. (Straw supplier or “Pass-through” supplier scheme) 6 Bid Rigging Three Phases of Bidding Fraud: 1) Pre-solicitation phase. Needs-recognition schemes (altering project requirements to what preferred supplier can offer). Specification schemes Tailoring/narrowing of prequalification requirements Vague specifications Bid splitting (to avoid bidding threshold) Advance look Bid Rigging Three Phases of Fraud (Continued): 2) Solicitation phase -- Bid rotation/pooling -- Fictitious suppliers -- Restricted bid period 3) Submission phase -- Abuse of sealed bid process -- Advance or inside information 7 Case Study: Bid Rigging A tender for Commonwealth Office at Haymarket, Sydney led to the exposure of collusive practices by large construction firms. Details: Before the close of the tender, the industry association, the Australian Federation of Construction Contractors, called a meeting of the four firms bidding for the contract. It was agreed that the winning firm should pay the three losers $750 000 each, and the AFCC $1 million. Project was worth around $200 million. The transactions were to be concealed by invoices for consultancy services. Exposed by subsequent government audit of construction industry. Receiving Fraud Risks Diversion of goods: Similar to inventory fraud– Document falsification of deliveries Shortage of delivery Delivery of substandard product (“Big Dig” Disaster”) Concealment (falsification of GL entries on deliveries) 8 Payment/Disbursement Fraud Risks Phony Invoice/Duplicate Invoice/ Invoice alteration (Internal OR External) Supplier Master File Manipulation Check Fraud ACH/EFT Management level payments fraud Check Fraud and Tampering Common types of check fraud: Creating Forged/counterfeit checks Check Interception and Forged Endorsement Check Altering by Inserting Numbers or Letters “Hidden Check” Fraud 18 9 Creating Forged Checks Employee (AP, bookkeeper, office manager, etc) without checksigning authority steals company check (usually blank) Makes out to self, cash, phony supplier, or accomplice Forges authorized person’s signature 19 ACH/EFT Payment Fraud External: “Vendor” requests change from check payment to ACH payment, but request is actually made by fraudsters who works for the vendor. New payment info and acct are his/hers Account hijacking Case Study: Supervalu case Internal: Instead of providing a creditor such as a credit card company or utility company his or her own bank account information, one of your own employees gives the creditor your payroll checking account numbers, representing to the creditors that they are from the employee’s personal account 20 10 Management Level AP Fraud Self-Approval of Fraudulent Invoices Usually tied to a shell company the manager has set up to receive fraudulently approved disbursements after he or she has approved the very invoices he or she is submitting Using company funds for personal expenses Koss Corporation Case Sue Sachdeva: 21 Lessons from Internal Fraudsters 11 Fraud Detection Techniques FRAUD DETECTION PART 1: The All-Important Role of Red Flags 12 Procurement Fraud Red Flags Consecutive invoices from same supplier Unusual pricing from supplier Sudden replacement of longstanding supplier PO doesn’t match invoice or delivery documents Unusual (personal) P-Card purchases Supplier address matches employee address Unusual patterns in quantities purchased Invoices have consecutive numbers despite being weeks or months apart Invoices missing key detail Supplier address does not match address on approved supplier list Unusual pricing (high or low) Supplier’s address is a P.O. box Invoice documentation (PO’s, shipping documents, etc.) appear unprofessional Procurement Fraud Red Flags (cont) Large number of inactive suppliers. (Could indicate employees added bogus supplier but no longer work for the company) Unusual number of “dupe” supplier. “Bill Skeem Ltd.” and “Bill U. Skeem Plc.” in the SMF. Too many employees have access to SMF. Many organizations trust employees to be honest in making entries or changes to the SMF. If this group expands, one or more of the “authorized” employees could be stealing. Same supplier awarded contracts on consecutive projects Product or service prices jump unexpectedly Long-time supplier suddenly replaced by new one Unusually large orders of specific goods or services 13 Receiving Fraud Red Flags Deliveries are late or missing Unusual patterns (exceptionally high or low) level of deliveries of specific items PO details don’t match physical delivery Delivery of product from different (wrong) manufacturer No Three Way Match Complaints of defects from end-users AP/Disbursement Fraud Red Flags Consecutive invoices from same vendor Unusual pricing from vendor (kickbacks/bribery/bid-rigging) PO doesn’t match invoice or delivery documents Vendor address matches employee address Unusual patterns in quantities purchased (Bid-rigging) Patterns of unusually frequent or high payments to long-time vendor (kickbacks) Invoices appear unprofessionally prepared (employees attempting to embezzle via phony invoice scheme) Unusual (personal) P-Card purchases continued… 14 AP/Disbursement Fraud Red Flags Invoice is unfolded (same as previous) Product or service prices jump unexpectedly. (Kickbacks) A long-time vendor is suddenly replaced by a new one. (Kickbacks) Inferior quality product is delivered, but invoice prices are for higher quality. (Kickbacks) Bills appear unprofessionally prepared Check tampering/alteration signs Patterns of unusually frequent or high payments to long-time supplier Cancelled checks have dual endorsements Forged payroll checks (using ACH banking information) Red Flags of ACH Fraud Unexplainable EFT/ACH debits from one or more bank accounts (may indicate account “hijacking”) Requests from new vendors to allow EFT/ACH debits to receive payment of invoices (may be a sign of a phony vendor looking for a quick fraudulent payoff) 15 FRAUD DETECTION PART 2: Detecting the Red Flags of P2P Fraud 16 Overview of Fraud Risk Assessment Process Identify key business processes Fraud team brainstorming (next slide) List possible fraud risks, scenarios and schemes (Procurement, Receiving, Disbursement) Conduct the detailed fraud risk assessment: Asking the right questions of the right people at the right time and weighing risk level of schemes and scenarios (next slide) 17 Continue FRA Questioning—Bus. Process Level Example: Procurement Fraud Possible Schemes: Double-billing schemes, phony supplier schemes, bid-rigging, check fraud, etc. Questions to ask: Who can request a supplier? Can anyone? What forms must be completed (PO, receiving docs, invoice, etc)? What are the requirements to be an approved supplier? What controls exist to verify the supplier exists? Do purchase orders specify description of items, quantities, prices, dates Are competitive bids required for all purchases? Does the company maintain a master supplier file? Important: The Business “doer” is often a better source than the business “owner”! Fraud Schemes and Scenarios Based on answers, list all specific fraud schemes and scenarios that could be perpetrated in each key business process. Identify potential perpetrators Determine if potential perpetrators possess the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities to commit fraud Identify incentives that may be in play for potential fraudster(s) (Layoffs, pay cuts etc, Fraud Triangle factor). Rank fraud risks on likelihood and potential damage —including assessment of existing controls 18 Assign Red Flags to Each Fraud Risk List red flags of likeliest schemes, e.g. for billing fraud: New supplier replacing a long-standing one; consecutively-number invoices, unprofessionally prepared invoices, altered PO’s. 19 Basic Red Flag Audit/Detection Methods Surprise audits Hotlines – to gather red flags and potential evidence (50% of detected fraud is by employee tip—highest in the world) Ratio analysis: Horizontal, vertical, entity vs industry, Surveillance (in the mailroom, other key locations Regular internal audits (including assessment of effectiveness of anti-fraud controls) Manual review/comparison of SVF for phony or dormant accts Using technology to detect anomalies in financial records Physical inventory counts Supplier verification and Supplier audit (continued) 20 Detailed Red Flag Detection --Procurement Fraud Review contractor records to identify questionable payments Review contract awards to identify contractors with continuous contracts slightly lower than the next bidder Review payments for possible circumvention of established contract procedures (suspicious new vendor names, conflicts of interest, etc). Review anti-bribery and gift policies and test for compliance Review/audit for unusual price spikes Conduct an automated audit for duplicate payments using ACL, IDEA, or other tool. Examine anomalies found. Review GL for possible altered entries continued… 41 Detailed Red Flag Detection --Procurement Fraud Determine if company has been invoiced correctly Evaluate contractor and company personnel and compliance with ethics policies Evaluate company control procedures and compliance with company policies Examine consecutive awards to single vendor Investigate sudden price increases Validate new vendors that replace long-standing ones Review/audit for vendor-employee address match 42 21 Detailed Red Flag Audit/Detection: Disbursement Fraud Use These Fraud-Related Audit Procedures to Find Red Flags: Examine supporting documents for payments of amounts just under the threshold required for approval. Match supplier master file against employee file. Run 3-way match (PO-Invoice-Receiving) or FOUR-way Run Benford’s Law test to look for anomalies Examine supporting documents for reconciliation problems between aging accounts and the general ledger. Perform analytical procedures and predictive tests of key ratios (sales to inventory; cost-of-goods to sales, etc). Search public records for supplier legitimacy; supplier audits Perform tests of controls over accounts payable and purchases. Source: CCH/WCC 101 Detailed Red Flag Audit/Detection: Disbursement Fraud Use These Fraud-Related Audit Procedures to Find Red Flags: Match supplier names and addresses from invoices with master supplier list. Search for unusual or large year-end transactions and adjustments, e.g., transactions not containing normal processing approvals or not having normal supporting documentation. Review supplier files for unusual items, such as manual and noncustomized forms; different delivery addresses; and suppliers that have multiple addresses. Examine disbursements for items that do not require delivery of goods. 22 P2P Fraud Prevention/Controls: Best Practices 23 Best Practice Procurement Controls Random Audits Targeted Audits Minimum payment review threshold Supplier master File Clean-up New-supplier validation/due diligence Implement anonymous hotline Require approval of all purchase requests over a specified amount. Separate duties of invoice approval from making changes to SMF Require competitive bids for all purchases over a certain amount. -- Monitor for potential bribery or kickback/bidding fraud Implement audit recovery/double invoicing control software. Review any invoices that have been paid without a PO reference. Continued … Best Practice Procurement Controls Implement strict PO Policy: “No PO; No Pay” Continued … SoD and DoA P-Card Fraud Controls -- Require original itemized receipts for each transaction w/ details… • Quantities • Price per unit • Description of goods or services purchased • Total charge amount • Date of purchase • Merchant’s name and address Job Rotation Mandatory holiday Background check 24 Best Practice Receiving Fraud Controls SoD: Procurement not to review delivery docs. 3-matching (PO, Invoice, Delivery docs) Monitor all shipping documentation Inspect all shipments for quantity/quality Surveillance of shipping dock (CCTV) Background checks on shipping/receiving personnel Implement anonymous hotline Best Practice Disbursement Controls Enforce SoD over SMF (and minimum access to SMF) Enforce SoD over check preparation, signing and mailing Tighten check security ACH debit blocks/filters Positive Pay/ Payee Positive Pay/ Reverse Positive Pay Automation controls: ACL/IDEA/Continuous Transaction Monitoring (ACL, Oversight) Conduct surprise Audits of AP (Deterrent Effect) Immediately investigate sudden replacements of vendors who have been working with your organization for a long time Consider hiring out duplicate invoice audit 25 Best Practice Disbursement Controls Implement anonymous hotline Enforce immediate supplier payment (to prevent check interception) Send all shipping documents and signed receipts for goods to AP within one business day (to prevent alteration) Conduct periodic supplier master file clean-up to flag duplicate and dormant suppliers Investigate multiple vendors with the same name but different operating addresses check signing/EFT approval by TWO signatories Best Practice Disbursement Controls Conduct detailed reviews of procurement records to detect unusual pricing for certain vendors – before payment is made Enforce consistent adherence to competitive bidding rules Immediately investigate any replacements of vendors who have been working with your organization for a long time Conduct a vendor audit if a billing, shell company, “straw vendor,” or kickback scheme is suspected Mandatory job rotation Background checks Mandatory holiday for AP manager(s) 26 Questions? Any Questions? Don’t be Shy! Thank You! Peter Goldmann, MSc. CFE White-Collar Crime 101 LLC/FraudAware 919-890-5009 (USA) [email protected] www.fraudaware.com 27
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