JANUARY 2016
In This Issue

 
"It is always right to detect a fraud and to perceive a folly; but it is very often wrong to expose either. A man of business should always have his eyes open, but most often seem to have them shut."
   -  Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield,
4th Earl

 

 
We are grateful to have the opportunity to provide you this valuable information via our monthly e-newsletter and our unparalleled forensic accounting and investigative services.

The goal of this e-newsletter is to provide you critical, inside information that will help you prevail when defending an IRS criminal case. We will do this by sharing the knowledge we have from our 25+ years of experience as an IRS Special Agent.

We take special care to ensure the information we provide you in "The Beacon" is the latest and most current information available. In this edition, we have addressed how due diligence helps manage risk and the 12 Top Tips to Reduce Employee Theft.

We want to write about topics that will assist you in prevailing with criminal IRS cases. Please e-mail us your topics of interest to [email protected] 
 
We encourage you to share our e-newsletter with others in your sphere of influence.
 
Sincerely,
 
Edmond J. Martin
 
Principal, Chief Investigator
Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
Texas Certified Investigator (TCI)
Due Diligence Helps Manage Risk  

(1) The care that a reasonable person exercises to avoid harm to their person, finances or that of another person. [1]
  
(2) The process of obtaining and evaluating details about the subject, entity, or investment opportunity before making a business or investment decision.
  
(3) It is reasonable steps taken by a person in order to satisfy a legal requirement especially in buying and selling real or personal property.
  
Due diligence is easier now than ever before because Google, Bing, and other search engines increase access to public records and other relevant information about a subject, an entity or an investment opportunity. Although ubiquitous, these resources do not replace the value of gut instinct and recommendations of a friend or associate when making major decisions.
  
Some people are blessed with sufficient income to make investments in excess of six figures. With that much money at stake it is wise to hire a professional investigator who is trained and experienced in locating the information necessary to make investment decisions. "The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior" applies in most cases. The best way to avoid loss of money is to
... Read More 

Reference
  1. Merriam Webster Dictionary
12 Top Tips to Reduce Employee Theft    

How to handle theft by employees and what to do to prevent theft in a small business setting.

President Ronald Reagan advised Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev at the arms control agreement that he would "trust but verify;" so should a small business owner do. As a small business owner you must establish a culture of constant vigilance against employee theft. Here are 12 top tips to help you prevent employee or partner theft:
  1. Have company bank and credit card statements sent to your home or have a link emailed directly to you on a monthly basis. Review them on a regular basis. Even if you do not see anything unusual, ask questions of the employees handling accounts to let them know you are watching and to keep them on their toes
     
  2. Require monthly reconciliations of all bank accounts and review them, looking for anomalies such as checks that do not clear or deposits that are long-term outstanding
     
  3. Have your accountant review the internal controls of your business and suggest means to segregate duties
Read the rest of the tips...
About Us

Serving your needs is our priority.

  

At Sage Investigations we are dedicated to serving our clients nationally, to help them navigate the difficulties of dealing with the IRS, and other complex (forensic) financial fraud investigations both civil and criminal. By narrowing our focus to our primary strength of following the money, we steer our knowledge, efforts, and experience to financial issues. We help our clients propel their cases forward by assisting in the review, acquisition, and organization of financial records, evaluating the elements of their cases, and helping create winning strategies. Through the use of our proprietary advanced financial investigative technology we analyze complex financial data quickly, easily and efficiently, saving our client's time and money.

 

Sage handles all cases with altruism, professionalism, honesty, integrity, passion and respect. When you hire Sage, you hire a team of professionals with skill and knowledge that helps you have more effective solutions. We are innovative with our DIO cutting edge technology, and perform every investigation in an orderly and organized manner to develop a clear investigative roadmap and deliver a quality work product. The compass that guides us is strong leadership and accountability. Learn more...

 

Contact Us

 

P.O. Box 160161

Austin, TX 78716

Phone: 512-659-3179

Fax: 512-328-6878

Email: [email protected] 

www.sageinvestigations.com

Texas License #A10803

 

 

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