Sunday, February 10, 2008

LOOK FOR THE OBVIOUS

Recently, a corporate investigations firm was hired to review and audit payments made during renovations at a construction site. Reviewing the amount of money paid for work on the buildings water tank, the auditors began the process of going over the itemized bill. Work performed to drain, clean, and repair, then paint and refill the tank were closely reviewed. Some of the items the team wanted to examine, as good investigators conducting a forensic audit, included comparison for the amount paid for the work involved relative to similar work by other firms. Was therre substandard paint applied? Was the tank painted before repairs were made? Was the tank even painted at all? While others began the tedious accounting task of auditing the billing procedures, one of the more experienced, “street-detectives”, went out and performed the obvious: was there even a water tank on the roof of the building? You guessed it – the firm was being billed for work on a water tank that didn’t even exist!

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