Frauds and economic crime rates remain at a record high, impacting more and more companies in diverse ways than ever before. The only way to reduce the impact of such frauds is to get a detailed understanding of the subject and adopt preventive measures instead of reactive measures.
Fraud reporting is one of the most important themes in the current corporate governance scenario. Considering the importance of this area, various regulators have come out with reporting requirements in the recent past with an aim to ensure adequate and timely reporting of frauds. In this context, understanding of the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders is pertinent.
This book is an attempt by authors to provide a comprehensive publication on the two specialised areas – ‘Forensic Investigations’ and ‘Fraud reporting’. The book addresses two key corporate governance requirements top on the agenda of regulators, enforcement agencies, boards and audit committees:
1. Rules, roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders towards: • Reporting of frauds under governance regulations in India • Prevention, detection and investigation of frauds
2. Practical approach for conducting forensic investigations in India
Practical tips, case studies and expert insights: In addition to covering a gist of the topic with relevant provisions, and authors’ viewpoint, key chapters also include relevant seasoned expert’s take on the topic based on their vast practical experience. Each expert has more than three decades of experience including the last two decades in leadership roles. The idea was to present a practitioner’s perspective based on practical experience in their role as an independent director or CEO or CFO, etc. More than 100 case studies are presented in the book to explain different concepts and learnings from various frauds discovered and investigated in India over the last two decades.
Few of the Questions addressed in the book:
• Is there a requirement to report all frauds to the regulators?
• Who is responsible for reporting?
• What is the role of audit committee, CEO, CFO, CHRO, internal/external auditors in prevention, detection, investigation and reporting of frauds?
• Can an organization ignore anonymous complaints?
• Can one access data from personal devices of employees during an investigation?
• How can one use forensic interviews as an effective tool to establish fraud?
• Is WhatsApp chat accepted as an evidence?
• Once fraud is established what are the next steps an organisation is expected to initiate?
• What is the difference between an audit and an investigation?
• How the approach to forensic investigations has evolved over the last two decades in India?
• Can we blindly rely on technology to prevent and detect frauds?
• Evolving methods for prediction, prevention and detection of frauds?
Sandeep Baldava
CA. Sandeep Baldava B.Com (Hons.), ACA, CFE, CISA Sandeep Baldava is a Chartered Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Information Systems Auditor by qualification with over 25 years of professional experience. Over the last two decades, he has led more than 1000 forensic investigations, fraud risk assessments and Anti-Corruption review engagements for companies headquartered in India, US, Asia, Europe & Africa. In his role as an international peer reviewer, he has performed reviews on forensic engagements across the globe giving him unparalleled experience in this field. His forensics experience spans across sectors and business functions. From deciphering complex forex transaction frauds or revenue recognition frauds to unravelling fund diversion/corporate loan defaults, to cracking recruitment fraud schemes to uncovering conflict of interest situations, he has deployed his forensic skills widely in bringing white collar criminals to justice. He led fraud risk assessments at leading corporates across sectors including pharmaceuticals, banking, technology, automobile, infrastructure, and retail. He has advised corporates on claiming/repudiating damages on account of termination/non- compliance with commercial contracts or other disputes. He has led engagements in M&A Scenario advising corporates and Private Equity firms on pre-investment forensic due diligence as well post-investment monitoring/investigations. From interviewing the junior-most employee of an NGO at a remote village in India to interviewing several high-profile promoters/CEOs/CFOs, his breadth of forensic experience is very wide providing him the ability to handle unique situations that crop up regularly while conducting forensic investigations. He has closely worked with, as well as presented findings to regulators and enforcement agencies on some of the most complex and high-profile white-collar crime investigations in India.
Deepa Agarwal
Deepa Agarwal B.Com, FCA, DISA, ASA (Australia) Deepa Agarwal is a Chartered Accountant having bagged 13th and 5th rank at all over India and Northern India levels respectively. She has almost 20 years of experience in serving national and multi-national companies in the areas of Auditing, Accounting, Reporting, Corporate Laws, and other related matters. She has completed Information Systems Audit (ISA) course from ICAI in Sept 2006 and a Certified course on IFRS from the ICAI, New Delhi in March 2011. She is an Associate Member of CPA Australia also. She has worked with the Technical Directorate of ICAI for around 5 years and was closely involved in the preparation of various publications such as Guidance Note on Companies (Auditor’s Report), 2020, Implementation guide on Auditing and Reporting Standards, Implementation guide on Key Audit Matters and other information, Guide to physical verification of inventory under COVID 19, Guidance note on reporting in company prospectus, Background material on AS 16, Technical Guide on Accounting and Auditing issues in Chit fund, Technical Guide on internal auditing in case of intangible assets. She has been working with renowned multinational consultancy firms for almost 16 years in a technical role dealing with accounting, auditing, reporting, Companies Act, risk management, and quality-related matters.