Expense Report Fraud | Working Time Fraud

In 2013, accounting fraud in the healthcare sector caused a total of 41 million euros in damage; the health damage inflicted on patients through false prescriptions and billing for services not rendered cannot even be expressed in numbers. In the healthcare industry, statistics on accounting fraud are repeatedly compiled and prominently published in the media, but this type of fraud also exists in almost all other industries, only there it is not exposed with the same public attention. While patients and health insurers are the main victims in healthcare, businesses are severely harmed in commerce by false expense reports and time fraud cases.

Company management usually does not have the capacity to examine all employees’ invoices in detail, but suspicious cases often arise from everyday work, because there are customer complaints, tips from other employees, or statements and activities by the possibly delinquent employee themselves do not seem plausible. Through the targeted deployment of our detective agency in Frankfurt am Main, suspicious employees can be investigated and fraud cases uncovered with court-admissible evidence: +49 69 1201 8454-0.

Investigations in Cases of Suspected Employee Fraud

Although external and freelance employees may certainly find it particularly easy to falsify their billing for appointments outside the company premises and the expense reports required for them, the majority of billing fraudsters are found among permanent employees in the company building. It is enough to start work one hour later every day, consistently extend the lunch break by one hour, or regularly leave the workplace earlier in order to obtain an unlawful financial advantage through fraudulent means. The resulting damage per individual employee may still remain within a manageable range, but it is a) the regularity and spread of such behavior among other employees that ultimately damages the company in the long term, and b) the loss of turnover that can quickly result from tasks not being completed, for example because customer inquiries are not processed in time.

Our Frankfurt commercial detectives observe conspicuous employees and, with the help of qualified IT forensic specialists, also take action in cases of abusive use of the company computer (for example excessive private use of social media) when there is a justified initial suspicion. An Excel spreadsheet that has been open for three hours but unchanged for just as long, while vacation bookings are being made on the company PC, irregularities in invoices and disappearing materials are often the first signs of internal employee fraud cases.

Few Companies Protect Themselves – Only Private Detectives Expose Weaknesses

Small and medium-sized companies in particular often believe themselves safe from fraud cases due to the small number of employees and a familiar, trusting working environment, while large, internationally active corporations increasingly take action against accounting and expense fraud. Even today in the information age, embezzlement of funds and falsification of accounts still rank ahead of data theft and industrial espionage among the most common economic crimes. In addition to the economic damage caused by fraudsters, which can even lead to the ruin of smaller companies, the reputational damage is also enormous – customers switch to the competition out of dissatisfaction. Productivity and efficiency among the other employees also suffer in some cases. For these reasons in particular, preventive and control management is especially important, as is, in cases of suspicion, the commissioning of Aaden Commercial Detective Agency Frankfurt a.M., which obtains court-admissible evidence against fraudulent employees.

Companies with inadequate control mechanisms stumble upon fraudulent accounting entries – if at all – more by chance than by design, and even then only rarely know how to proceed legally and properly with such a criminal employee. Our private detectives in Frankfurt/Main therefore offer company management not only their services as investigators in individual cases, but also work as security consultants for future procedures and control mechanisms in order to eliminate previous weak points after analyzing work processes. Two fraud experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers even recommend a strict zero-tolerance policy toward fraudulent employees, even if it is common practice in the company concerned to occasionally turn a blind eye to minor losses. According to the two experts, a lenient approach to fraud and embezzlement may encourage other employees to commit similar frauds as well, since they have nothing severe to fear in the way of sanctions or penalties from company management. The fact that this view is by no means unopposed is shown by the case linked here from our detective agency.

Preventive Measures and Deterrence of Potential Free Riders

Often, accounting fraud does not initially involve criminal intent at all. But accidentally misreported amounts and the daily diversion of a few minutes from working time quickly grow into large sums and several hours off when the employee concerned realizes that their small mistakes are neither noticed nor punished. In such cases, too, the sums are usually smaller, so that no sense of wrongdoing arises: “They can afford it; a few (hundred) euros won’t be missed,” is the approximate motto.

In order to catch fraudsters in time before larger amounts of money are stolen (six-figure sums by individual offenders are not uncommon), coordinated measures by full professionals should be implemented. Within the company, greater awareness must be created of loopholes and opportunities for fraud cases so that offenses can be combated preventively. The deployment of our detectives from Frankfurt is therefore useful not only after accounting fraud has been committed, but also as prevention. Making an example of one case also protects against copycats. In addition, for any company that cares about its reputation, it is important that internal problems do not become public, but are treated confidentially by all involved, including investigators, and resolved as quickly as possible – we guarantee maximum discretion.

First Suspicion within Your Own Company? Aaden Detective Agency Frankfurt Steps In for You.

If you have noticed conspicuous accounting entries by individual employees or other irregularities in your business, our Frankfurt detective team will be happy to take action for you in order to obtain court-admissible evidence regarding the guilt or innocence of the employees concerned. However, it is important to know that investigations may only be carried out when there is a justified initial suspicion and not generally against all employees, since general monitoring is not legally permitted due to the protection of employees’ privacy. If, however, you have noticeable expense reports whose irregularities and details the employee cannot satisfactorily explain in a one-on-one conversation, our commercial detectives in Frankfurt am Main are at your service around the clock. If you have any questions about the next steps, let us advise you free of charge by telephone from Monday to Friday, or write us an email at info@aaden-detektive-frankfurt.de.