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Forensic audit explained: scope, deliverables, and when forensic accounting fits.

Employee fraud can be perpetrated through the misappropriation of assets and/or financial statement misstatement.

To minimise the impact of fraud in Australia and globally, we are promoting anti-fraud awareness and education with a series of articles during International Fraud Awareness Week. This article is the first in our series and takes a closer look at the most commonly experienced types of fraud, the warning signs, and fraud detection.

When there is commingling of assets, as often seen in family law or commercial disputes, it can become difficult to identify asset ownership and asset value. In these instances, asset tracing is used to determine the source of the asset and how the asset has been used prior, and in the course of the dispute.

Asset tracing is a process whereby forensic accountants and investigators ‘follow the money’ by locating assets of value to an individual or company that have been misappropriated. Asset tracing is usually undertaken for the purposes of recovery, often as part of formal insolvency processes or in support of ongoing litigation or fraud investigations. It involves a complex analysis to identify assets and the flow of funds, requiring a combined skillset of forensic accounting, investigation and technology. Engaging forensic accountants specialising in asset tracing can make a substantial difference in what misappropriated assets are recovered and exactly how much.