Financial Transactions and Fraud Schemes Flashcards
Occupational Fraud
those in which and employee, manager, officer or owner of an organization commits fraud to the organizations detriment
three major types of occupational fraud
- corruption
- asset misappropriation
- financial statement fraud
What are the three red flags that increase the risk of fraudulent financial reporting (eg Fraud Triangle)
- Situational Pressures, related to company performance/targets
- Opportunities to commit fraud with the perception of a small chance for detection
- Potential Rationalizations, to justify that the fraud was ok
Channel Stuffing
selling an unusually large quantity of a product to distributors who are encouraged to overbuy via deep discounts or extended payment terms
What are the five classifications of financial statement schemes?
Revenues Fictitious Timing Differences (smoothing) Asset Valuations Improper Expense/ liabilities concealed Disclosures Improper
What is “backdating stock options”?
when a company alters the date of the option grant to a time when the stock was trading at a lower price so the option is instantly valuable to the recipient
The 3 types of comparative financial statement analysis
1- Vertical Analysis (IS items as % of revenue/ BS items as % of assets)
2- Horizontal Analysis (period over period comparisons)
3- Ratio analysis (quick ratio/ turnover/ debt to equity/ margins/ etc)
Cash Larceny
the theft of money that has already appeared on the victim orgs books
Skimming
the theft of cash/assets that have not yet been recorded in the accounting system
aka “off-book frauds”
What is “Lapping” customer payments?
-a way to conceal skimming receivables/sales where the thief credits one account by taking money from another account due later and then continues doing that
Misappropriation
Using funds meant for another purpose for personal gain (eg, embezzlement)
Fraudulent Disbursement
Tricking a company into paying for an invalid payment (ex: false invoices, altered timecards, forged company checks, fake voids/refunds)
Authorized Maker Scheme
When an employee with signaure authority on a company account writes fraudulnt checks for thieown benefit and signs their own name as the maker
A shell company
a business with a mailing address but no physical presence or employees that generates little, if any, economic value
Collusion
when two or more individulas agree to engage in a deceitful act in order to gain an unfair advantage
A turnaround sale
- A conflict of interest scheme
- when an employee knows their employer is looking to purchase a certain assets to they but it themselves and sell it to the company at an inflated price
open-source information
information available in the public domain
In the US, what laws govern commercial filings? Where are they?
- the uniform commercial code
- maintained and searchable at the state level by each secretary of state
What are “commercial filings”?
records that banks, finance companies and other lenders generate when they provide loans or leases to borrowers who use property as collateral for loans
What is the difference between a sleeper and a mole??
A sleeper is deliberately planted to extract info and a mole is usually an existing, compromised employee
Pretexting
impersonating someone else of making false/misleading statements to persuade a target to release information of perform some action
Elicitation
the process of extracting information that can be used and exploited to achieve particular goals
Social Engineering
using deceptive techniques to manipulate people into taking certain actions or disclosing information
Define “Identity Theft”
Using fraud or deception to obtain and uses another person’s personal data, typically for economic gain
A Suspense Account
The section of an organizations books where unclassified debits and credits are temporarily recorded until a final destination is determined
Embezzlement
When a person that has been lawfully entrusted with someones property takes it
A Daisy Chain
When a bank buys, sells and swaps its bad loans for the bad loans of another.
-creates new documentation and masks bad loans by making them look recent and good
Retainage
- a construction holdback
- the amount withheld from draw requests until construction is complete
An Air Loan
A loan for nonexistent property
An Advance-fee fraud
A scheme where the fraudster persuades the target to advance sums of money by falsely promising the delivery of a product or service
What is an SAR?
- A Suspicious Activity Report filed in the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen)
- Requires US banks to file a report within 30 days of detection if is there is a known or suspected criminal violation
An Access Device
an object that allows access to account funds (debit card, PIN, etc)
pecuniary
of or relating to money (eg, pecuniary damages)
Fidelity Insurance
indemnifies against loss caused by employee dishonesty
Capitation
A healthcare reimbursement method in which providers receive one lump sum for each patient that they treat, regardless of how many services the provider renders to each patient
The Stark Law
limits ability of physicians to profit from their referrals by not allowing them to refer patients to physicians to which they have a financial relationship
Medicare Part A covers….
facilities (hospice care, home health, SNFs, etc)
Medicare Part B covers…
outpatient care and doctors services
Medicare Part C covers…
Medicare Advantage Plans (part A and B but provided by a private insurance company)
Medicare Part D covers…
Prescription Drugs