Fraud Investigation

Nardello & Co has undertaken fraud investigations across borders, continents and industries, and in nearly every case the old adage, “if it looks too good to be true, it is,” applies.  Clients call upon Nardello & Co. to conduct fraud investigations when they need to investigate suspicious activity, gain further information about unusual (and potentially dishonest) behaviors and dig deeper into record keeping inconsistencies or reporting irregularities. 

Fraud comes in a number of guises, many of which are attempts at making one believe in something that is not true: out-sized returns on investment, near perfect inventory records, undisputed customs reports, too large or too frequent bills of lading, to name only a few examples of good news that few choose to question. 

Because our investigators have decades of experience in identifying scams, frauds and corrupt activity, they are attuned to finding and identifying fraud during the course of other investigative work.  One recent fraud investigation resulted from a rather straightforward due diligence exercise.  In this instance, a site visit in Asia to verify factory output levels, uncovered an elaborate ruse to make the enterprise appear more advanced than it was. The fraud investigation discovered that dozens of extras from surrounding villages were drafted by the subject firm to masquerade as employees.  

Nardello & Co.’s team of investigators also discovered fraud during an internal investigation while targeting suspected corrupt activity within a manufacturing business.  A resulting fraud investigation under similar circumstances might establish that the fraud involved identity theft, false invoicing, kickbacks, straightforward embezzlement, theft of company assets or a combination of these.  

Our litigation support investigative work also provides us with the opportunity to uncover fraudulent activity.  In the process of investigating prior bad acts committed by individuals connected to a lawsuit, we often simultaneously undertake fraud investigations that can provide useful information to assist our client’s position. 

Fraud Investigations can include the following: