Category: Articles of Interest

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Corruption Amnesty – Risks to Companies

Leigh Beijer*, CA | CFE | CAMS – MNP Investigative and Forensic Services

Earlier this month, privately owned Griffiths Energy pled guilty to bribery charges and offered to pay a substantial fine. On Friday, January 25, 2013 Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Scott Booker agreed with the terms of the charges and penalty. Continue reading Corruption Amnesty – Risks to Companies

All that Glitters is Not Gold

David Debenham – Partner, McMillan LLP

Forensic investigators sometimes have occasion to weigh the credibility of witnesses as part of planning and prosecuting their investigation. While the ultimate question of credibility is left to the court, or tribunal, one cannot help but be directed by witnesses you find credible, and to discount avenues of investigation of witnesses you do not believe. Some witnesses are also, by their nature, more credible than others. Police officers, for example, are reliable. They are skilled observers, professionally trained, and have no interest in the outcome, That makes them reliable, right? Continue reading All that Glitters is Not Gold

Profiling Women In The Profession

Ms. Nancy Warden and Ms. Karen Vanderzweerde

Professional certification is a process in which a person proves that he or she has the knowledge, experience, and skills to perform specific tasks. This month the ACFI has profiled two women, who had attained their CFI.

We asked them a few questions as to how beneficial the CFI designation has been in their careers. Continue reading Profiling Women In The Profession

Failure to Vet Candidates is a Costly Mistake

Robert C. Taylor and Sunira Chaudhri
Levitt LLP

Just as any savvy consumer would check under the hood to avoid purchasing a lemon, smart employers do background checks on prospective employees. However, they must conduct background checks carefully in order to avoid running afoul of human rights legislation. Continue reading Failure to Vet Candidates is a Costly Mistake

Corporate Security on the Brink

Brian A. Grosman – Levitt & Grosman LLP

Just as Edward Snowden proved to the political classes that the technological malfeasance of a single bad actor can undermine global security, at this very moment hundreds of kindred scoundrels are mining corporate data unchecked, diminishing or even razing corporations’ very worth in the dark. If they are not already, today’s captains of industry should be very worried. Continue reading Corporate Security on the Brink

Prison Sentence in Air India Bribery Scheme Sends Deterrent Message to Canadian Executives

Milos Barutciski, Matthew Kronby and Steven T. Robertson
Bennett Jones LLP

On May 23, Nazir Karigar, an agent of Cryptometrics Canada Inc. (Cryptometrics), was sentenced to three years in federal prison under Canada’s foreign bribery statute. Mr. Karigar was convicted last August of conspiring to pay approximately $450,000 to India’s Minister of Civil Aviation and officials of Air India, a state-owned enterprise, in an attempt to win a multi-million dollar contract for Cryptometrics to supply security systems to Air India. Mr. Karigar was convicted largely on the evidence of another Cryptometrics executive, who was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his cooperation. Karigar had unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate immunity for himself, and instead became the focus of the prosecution. Continue reading Prison Sentence in Air India Bribery Scheme Sends Deterrent Message to Canadian Executives

Investing in Fraud Prevention Can Pay

Nelson Bennett – April 7, 2015, Law & Politics

When Open Connection owner Bruce Lloyd discovered that one of his employees might have fraudulently obtained equipment and commissions from his company – a Telus (TSX:T) retailer – he did what most people would be inclined to do: he went to the police.

Lloyd discovered it would take several days to get a warrant to search the former employee’s home for the evidence he would need to prove the fraud – long enough for that evidence to disappear. He ended up dropping the case and writing off the fraud, which he estimated at between $60,000 and $80,000. Continue reading Investing in Fraud Prevention Can Pay

Autopsy of an Investigator

Wayne Watson

As investigators, we are called upon to investigate allegations that were brought to our attention by people who expect us to be fair, thorough and impartial throughout our investigations. Organizations invest enormous amounts of time and money to protect their clients as well as their reputations. An overzealous or incompetent investigator can be a real liability to their employers. The cloud that hangs over an organization that conducts and acts on the results of a badly conducted investigation takes a long time to dissipate. Credibility and trust are difficult to earn and extremely easy to lose especially in this media hungry and litigious society we live in. That is why those who attempt to cut corners, or obtain evidence illegally or unethically not only end up doing a disservice to their organization, the complainant, their colleagues and to society as a whole, but most of all to themselves. Throughout my many years in the realm of investigations I have worked with some pretty incredible investigators so I thought that in this column we would look into what makes these investigators a “cut” above the others. Continue reading Autopsy of an Investigator