Brett Wilgar

This highlights the prevalence of employee fraud in New Zealand, and the inability of companies to protect themselves or provide the necessary details for this fraud to be investigated by the police.  The article states there is little deterring criminals from committing fraud and “(it is) a bit of an internal joke in police that if you’re going to commit an offence, fraud is the offence to commit (as) the chance of being detected is incredibly low…..” Watchful Eye software…

Often fraud happens over a long period of time, with the perpetrator becoming bolder as time goes on and the fraud remains undetected.  Watchful Eye software monitors every transaction and reports on changes and anomalies which can prevent this from happening.  By instigating an anti fraud policy in your company and implementing anti fraud software, you reduce your risk to employee fraud and will not be a workplace fraudsters will look to be employed.   http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-04/former-contractor-jailed-stealing-more-than-half-million-dollars/7996698 November 4, 2016 A…

Gambling is cited by many as their reason for defrauding their employers and something to be aware of as an employer with your staff.  More and more we are seeing this reason used in court, but it is hard to gain an accurate picture as many exaggerate the extent of their gambling issues to garner sympathy.  This is something Judges seem aware of, acknowledging gambling addictions as explaining but not excusing the offending – as is the case here with this…

There has been a lot of coverage of this case.  If one theme should be raised to my readers, it is that threatening behaviour of fraudsters is quite common – being ‘grumpy’, ‘unapproachable’, etc is a common front to avoid being questioned. Care should be taken when trust is placed in staff with these attributes. Also validating suppliers so ‘imaginary’ ones do not get set up in your accounting system (let alone having invoices paid to them) is very important.…

As part of our overall anti-fraud philosophy we suggest that you be professionally sceptical and respect your instincts.  This does not guarantee protection, especially when some people take enjoyment in breaching your internal controls, and when their behaviour is irrational and out of character.  Without reporting on your financial transactions and data it is hard to protect yourself. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/89355773/former-ird-staffer-jailed-for-theft-of-265k February 13, 2017 BEVAN READ/FAIRFAX NZ KELLY DENNETT Last updated17:00, February 13 2017 Michael Marsom appeared for sentencing in the Auckland District…

Our first published article, thanks Inside Small Business Australia! https://insidesmallbusiness.com.au/planning-management/a-philosophy-for-reducing-employee-fraud-for-smes DECEMBER 20, 2016 Planning and diligence are crucial to reducing the risk of employee fraud. Employee fraud happens every day, search your favourite news site for fraud and a string of recent stories will be returned. Companies lose five per cent of annual revenues every year. SME companies were disproportionately represented in the 2016 report at 30 per cent of the cases and a median fraud loss of $150,000 with…

A really good article on the impact of fraud in the Taranaki region. Not for Profits (NFP) appear to be exposed to Employee Fraud more than they should, which seems worse given that these organisations are set up to do good in the community. The impact on NFP is different to a commercial organisation.  The trust lost when the funds you receive are from public donations, but then diverted to fraudsters, impacts the ability of the Not for Profit to…

Watchful Eye was formed to help small to medium businesses who are disproportionately more often victims of Employee Fraud, and where it is more likely that this fraud threatens their existence. When we were a victim of Employee Fraud, gambling was claimed to be the motivation for the fraud.  Gambling appears to be a common reason or excuse for fraud and can make it very hard to trace what actually happens to cash once it has been stolen from the…