A corporate fraud investigation is much more complicated than many of us think. I’ve been in corporate America for years and did not understand the intricacies of how the investigation of wrongdoing is conducted in a large corporation. Or even who conducts that investigation.
The first intriguing fact is that a corporate fraud investigation is not only a private affair but involves the help of many federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service. This is because the violations that are usually being investigated are in relation to the Internal Revenue Code and related statutes.
These crimes of corporations usually involve senior executives. People who investigate these crimes must be able to concentrate on and understand the intricacies of high corporate finance and accounting. The most prevalent law that prevents violations of the Internal Revenue Code is Sarbanes-Oxley. This act imposes stiffer sentences of up to 20 years in prison for the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in order to impede a federal investigation.
In 2010 there were 116 corporate fraud investigation s initiated. Of those 116, 91 of those recommended that someone be prosecuted. There was actually a 77% incarceration rate of those 116 investigations with senior executives serving an average of 48 months. This information comes from the Criminal Investigation Management Information System.
Need advice on a corporate fraud investigation. Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
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