internal controls to prevent theft

The Internal Controls That Actually Stop Theft (and the Ones That Don’t)

Most businesses that suffer employee theft had controls in place. They had a policy manual, an approval process, maybe even an annual audit. The problem was that those controls looked good on paper but never actually got in a thief’s way. The data backs this up. The ACFE’s Occupational Fraud 2026: A Report to the […]
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admissible evidence in court

The Evidence That Holds Up in Court vs. the Evidence That Gets Thrown Out

You can catch a fraudster red-handed and still lose. Every year, organizations uncover schemes, gather proof, and hand it to prosecutors, only to watch a judge exclude the very evidence that would have won the case. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found in its 2026 Report to the Nations that 54% of occupational fraud […]
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embezzlement red-flag checklist

The Investigator’s Embezzlement Red-Flag Checklist (Free Download)

Every year, the typical organization loses roughly 5% of its revenue to occupational fraud, and the people doing the stealing are amost never strangers. They are trusted insiders with keys to the ledger. The latest data from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners shows that the median scheme runs about 12 months before anyone catches […]
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forensic accountant vs lawyer

Forensic Accountant vs. Lawyer: Who to Call First When You Suspect Fraud

The numbers on the screen do not add up. A vendor account looks inflated, a reconciliation refuses to close, or a trusted employee’s explanations keep shifting. Your instinct is to call someone immediately, but who? For most executives facing suspected fraud, the choice comes down to a forensic accountant vs lawyer, and getting that sequence […]
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Fraud Investigation Cost
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How Much Does a Private Fraud Investigation Cost? Our Real 2026 Pricing

When you suspect someone inside your organization is stealing, the first question is rarely “how much will this cost?” The first question is “how bad is it?” But the cost question comes fast, and you deserve a straight answer. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ 2026 Report to the Nations, the typical organization […]
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misuse of public funds
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The Quincy Elder-Services Director Who Embezzled Public Funds: How Misuse of Public Money Gets Caught

In June 2026, a federal judge in Boston sentenced Thomas F. Clasby Jr., the former director of Quincy, Massachusetts’ Department of Elder Services, to six months in prison followed by home confinement, plus more than $136,000 in restitution. His crime? Over roughly five years, he had drained public money meant for the city’s seniors and […]
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Kash Patel FBI Bonus Allegations
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Following the Money in Bonus and Payroll Fraud: What Recent Headlines Teach Compliance Teams

When a high-profile 2026 congressional dispute put alleged federal bonus payments in the national spotlight, it did more than generate news cycles. It reminded every compliance officer, internal auditor, and executive of an uncomfortable truth: payments that live inside an organization’s own payroll and awards systems can be among the hardest forms of misconduct to […]
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money mules
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What the Newcastle $100M Laundering Case Reveals About How Money Mules Get Trapped

In February 2026, a 47-year-old man from Newcastle, Washington pleaded guilty to helping launder nearly $100 million in fraud proceeds. He set up nine business entities with legitimate-sounding names like Apex Oil and Gas Trading, accepted money from investors who thought they were funding oil and gas storage, then funneled it to coconspirators’ bank accounts […]
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