Posted by Melissa Nomani.

Farmers across the United States are filing suits against Syngenta. As stated in the article, “The lawsuits allege the biotechnology company’s genetically modified Agrisure Viptera and Duracade seeds contaminated US corn shipments, making them unacceptable for export to China.” China does not allow the importation of GMO products that it has not tested. In February of 2014, China learned that the corn shipments from the U.S. contained Viptera. Agrisure Viptera is a seed that is genetically modified (known as MIR162) to prevent damage to crops by earworms and cutworms. As a result, China has rejected corn imports from the U.S.

Over 1,800 suits have been filed. Lawsuits filed against Syngenta state that the company put seeds on the market even though there was no approval from foreign markets. This has led to some farms having great financial losses. Even farmers who do not use GMO seeds could be affected due to accidental contamination from other fields. Syngenta has tried to refute the lawsuits by stating that they are not responsible for protecting farmers from GMO seeds. This arguments were rejected in September by Judge Lungstrum, who refused to dismiss the suits.

It has been estimated by The National Grain and Feed Association that as of April 2014 almost $3.0 billion worth of losses were caused by Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera MIT162 corn seed.

The first of the lawsuits are expected to go to trial in June 2017.

Melissa is a finance major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2018.

Posted by Ola Mohammed Alghasham.

The world encounters cases where frauds are committed by white collar criminals. Executives whom fight against fraud are beneficial for the company. Although the board and management make strong efforts in composing fraud preventing policies, there are several behavioral, environmental, and fraud assessment elements which are ignored during the composition of such policies and their absence provides shelter to the fraudsters. White collar criminals often attain confidence from their role in the organization. This confidence gets transformed into arrogance which prohibits the criminal from applying organizational policies and rules on himself, as an employee of the company.

There is no doubt that the top management always looks for the creative and clever individuals as employees. They forget, however, this creativity and cleverness can be used against the company instead of in its favor. Employees with these traits can cunningly commit frauds by practicing unnoticeable unethical behavior. Companies should execute proper controls with the recruitment of talented people. The tone of top management can either promote or discourage the ethical behavior because it is supposed to set an example for the rest of the organization. The whistle-blowing attitude is shaped by the organizational culture. Moreover, an illogical increase in pay, without any improvement in the performance, allows the fraudsters to continue their unethical activities.

Board members and executives should identify the fraud tactics and fraud hidden strategies of these individuals to compose a fool-proof risk assessment process. Major warnings can appear from the financial data (e.g. unusual, frequent or large transactions), documents with missing or incomplete information or suspicious signatures, poor controls (e.g. lack of monitoring, poor reconciliation of accounts, lack of position to manage conflicts of interest), behavior (e.g. unstable behaviors, mismatched lifestyle with income, high expectations family, and job dissatisfaction). Management must implement strong controls in the day-to-day business operations to avoid fraudulent activities. The board must adopt a proactive behavior in the elimination or early detection of fraud by establishing an audit committee with full authority, monitoring transactions, promoting and maintaining an ethical environment, and composing a procedure for the reporting of fraudulent activities. The board must compose and enforce certain strategies to cope up with the frauds. The executives must develop an ethical environment for keeping the employees loyal with the company and directing the human talent towards the betterment of the company.

Ola is an graduate accounting major with a certification in forensic accounting at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University.

Source:

Marks, J., (2012), A Matter of Ethics: Understanding the Mind of a White-Collar Criminal, Financial Executive, pp. 31-34. Retrieved from www.financial executives.org.

Posted by Rizzlyn Melo.

The car-manufacturing company, Tesla, has been battling with New Jersey government officials for the right to sell their premium electric cars in the state. Tesla differs from other car-manufacturers because they sell their vehicles directly from small, independently-owned sites instead of large dealerships. Many of Tesla’s facilities are actually located in various malls in New Jersey. The issue with this practice is that under New Jersey law, cars can only be sold through registered dealerships. In the article, this legislation “was put into place at a time when small local dealers were perceived as vulnerable to the moves of major national manufacturers.” Because of Tesla, this law has been targeted and challenged by various carmakers and consumer-rights groups. Fortunately, it can be said that their efforts have not gone in vain. In March, Governor Chris Christie signed new legislation that allows Tesla to operate at four sites in New Jersey. Shortly after this was signed, New Jersey lawmakers approved an amendment granting zero emission car manufacturers the right to operate dealerships in the state.

Tesla’s success story in New Jersey shows that the market is modernizing. Legislation that was once effective in the past can actually be disadvantageous in the present day. While the law requiring sales through registered dealerships was once helpful to small businesses, it prevented a company from potentially helping the environment. Tesla only produces zero-emission, luxury cars. They are a company seeking to reduce society’s carbon footprint by introducing a sleek, fashionable car to the market that does not require gas. The government’s initial refusal to allow this company to conduct its business in New Jersey made legislators look like they would sacrifice an environmental advancement for the sake of large dealerships. Tesla’s win in New Jersey represents more than the right to sell cars; it is a win for the evolving market that is in need of environmentally friendly products.

Rizzlyn is a business administration major with a concentration in marketing at Montclair State University, Class of 2017.

Posted by Rizzlyn Melo.

The practice of corruption in any company hurts every single person involved. This is certainly the case with Petrobras, a Brazilian state-run oil company. The corruption that has been associated within the large company has caused it exponential damages and has tarnished the reputations of both business executives and political figures. In the BBC article, it was reported that the company suffered an “overall loss of $7.2 billion” and an impairment charge of $14.8 billion that reflects the decreased value of its assets. These figures represent the first losses the company has suffered in decades.

The unfortunate circumstances Petrobras is currently facing are the results of various criminal activities. One of the most scandalous discoveries made against Petrobras is its members’ involvement in bribery. Bribery can be defined as the unlawful offer or acceptance of anything of value in exchange for influence on a government or public official. Various government officials have been linked to these bribery allegations. Even Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, has endured scrutiny for her alleged involvement. Rousseff was a board member of Petrobras during the time of the illegal activity. Thousands of Brazilian people have protested against their elected president. Later, however, an attorney general of any charges exonerated Rousseff. Another form of corruption Petrobras has been accused of is money laundering, which is the concealment of the origins of money obtained illegally. In this case, money laundering was employed to hide bribes as well as several illegal donations made to political parties.

At least forty politicians are currently under investigation. That number does not even include the numerous business executives that have lost their positions. The criminal activities of this one company have ruined countless lives and has shaken an entire nation. The corruption in Petrobras demonstrates how important business law is in keeping companies such as this in check. Petrobras has lost more trust than profit, and that is something it cannot easily make up.

Rizzlyn is a business administration major with a concentration in marketing at Montclair State University, Class of 2017.

Posted by ZaAsia Thompson-Hunter.

The European Union isn’t happy with Honeywell and DuPont because they believe they are breaking antitrust rules. Honeywell and DuPont are the only two companies that produce the chemical R-1234yf. This chemical is used to produce the only car-coolant that meets the standards on the European Union’s greenhouse-gas emissions. By working together, the European Commission believes that Honeywell and DuPont are limiting the supplies of the coolant sold to other carmakers and furthermore reducing technical development. “The investigation, triggered by French company Arkema SA (AKE), also examined Honeywell’s alleged ‘deceptive conduct’ when the product was endorsed by a car-industry trade group, and whether it charges ‘fair and reasonable’ license fees to rivals who want to produce the product.” This investigation may lead to fines as much as 10% of yearly sales.

DuPont plans to fight against all accusations made by the EU because they feel they have not violated any policies and have been abiding by all the rules and laws that apply. In an e-statement, DuPont says they “will fight this every step of the way, as it has no basis in law or fact.” Additionally, in this ongoing case, Honeywell responded by saying the EU’s allegations were “baseless and conflict with the EU’s own laws that encourage collaboration on development,” according to an e-mailed statement.

ZaAsia Thompson-Hunter is a business administration/psychology major at Montclair State University, Class of 2017.

Posted by Kimberly McNamara.

A former controller of the Hereditary Disease Foundation, a nonprofit group out of New York that encourages and contributes to studies and other research dealing with congenital diseases, has been indicted, this year, for embezzlement of over $1.8 million. The organizations former controller, Karen Alameddine, who was responsible for managing finances from 2005 through January 2014, began “‘to make what in reality were transfers to her personal bank account appear as if they were wire or bank transfers to grant recipients,” according to Manhattan Federal Prosecutors.

Alameddine, who also went by the name Karen Dean, made a fake business called “Abacus Accounting,” “Chez Cheval Ranch,” “Dean & Co,” and “Karen Dean Exports,” to try and cover her tracks. She was not so successful. On November 17 of this year, she was arrested in Boston, and the following day, made an appearance in federal court and is now awaiting a transfer to Manhattan, says The NY Times.

Suspicions were raised when a complaint was made after Alameddine left the nonprofit this past January, stating that an account holder never received their check from the group.

In a statement given by the organization, “this loss was confirmed through internal investigation and a forensic audit conducted by outside legal counsel retained immediately by the foundation. . . . Although the theft was substantial, only a small amount of grant monies committed before 2104 was compromised.”

Alameddine was charged with five counts of tax evasion and one count of wire fraud.

Kim is a business administration major at Montclair State University, Class of 2016.

Posted by Ethan James.

There was a chemical spill into the Elk River, two years ago, that came from a storage tank owned by Freedom Industries. This spill caused a temporary shutdown of businesses within the region around the river, as well as many residents of the Charleston area needing to go to the emergency room with symptoms of rashes and nausea. The damages caused by the chemical spill hurt the local economy and people, so a class-action lawsuit was ensued.

The lawsuit was against Eastman Chemical and West Virginia American Water Co., as through the actions of both companies lead to damages against the people of the Charleston area. “The suit alleged the water company was unprepared for the spill and that Eastman Chemical didn’t advise Freedom of the dangers of the coal-cleaning agent,”(Michael Virtanen). There is a fear that Eastman did not properly warn the water company of the damage to others or how to properly contain it. In addition, the water company was said to be “unprepared for the spill”(Michael Virtanen), in both the damages that were inflicted on the tanks and how to proceed with the consequences of the spill.

The U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver approved a $151 million dollar settlement that involved both companies, splitting the settlement. West Virginia American Water Co. is going to pay $126 million, while Eastman Chemical will proceed to pay $25 million. “The money will be distributed to affected residents and businesses through an application process to be determined later,”(The Associated Press). There has been an update to proceedings within the water company in order to avoid a repeat of the damages that occurred, while the chemical company has placed new regulations on inspections in order to better advise companies of their products.

Ethan is a management, finance, and ITM Majors and legal studies minor at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2020.

Posted by Stephen D’Angelo.

Friday morning, two days after the judge presiding the Uber class action lawsuit decided that drivers attempting to arbitrate can be included in the law suit, Uber sent drivers a new agreement. The document undermined the judge’s ruling by revising the arbitration clause.

Liss-Riordan and her team are filing an emergency motion that will be heard in front of Judge Edward Chen next Thursday; it asks the court to block Uber from enforcing this new driver agreement. “Uber has tried to fix the problem that Judge Chen ruled made the agreement unenforceable,” Liss Riordan told TechCrunch in an email.. The Private Attorney General Act gives “a private citizen the right to pursue fines that would normally only be available to the State of California. It also allows that private citizen to “seek civil penalties not only for violations that he personally suffered” but also for violations of “other current or former employees.”

According to Chen’s Wednesday ruling, the Uber driver agreement of 2014 and 2015 illegally waived drivers’ rights under PAGA, which informed Judge Chen’s decision that the arbitration clause could not be honored because it contained an illegal provision. This was the reason for the provision of the agreement, to quickly remove the illegality and include new provisions to the agreement.

The Private Attorney General Act protects uber drivers from what uber has tried to prevent, a large action against the company. Uber has agreed to resolve any claim against the company but only on an individual basis. Uber’s driver agreement provision also attempts to prevent workers from participating in any class collective or representative action against the company. Uber also rewrote the agreement to remove a requirement that arbitration between a driver and the company remain confidential. The language makes it clear that the agreement goes into effect only when a driver accepts it  not when a revision is published, therefore, protecting drivers who previously signed the agreement.

Stephen is an accounting major at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University, Class of 2017.

Posted by Kimberly Culcay.

In the article, “What Types of Legal Cases Require a Forensic Accountant,” Henry Rinder describes what a forensic accountant really is and the need for such a professional. The article discusses that there is a difference between a traditional accountant and a forensic accountant. A forensic accountant combines accounting knowledge and legal expertise to help their clients, from individuals to small and large businesses. The forensic accountant is a person that exhibits a curiosity that allows him or her to figure out if a company is hiding something. Some of the legal cases that require forensic accounting are criminal investigations, fraud, shareholder disputes, and divorce. For example, it is common in divorce cases for one party to hide assets to prevent splitting up everything they have.

In criminal investigations forensic accountants help find key elements to help law enforcement officers investigate crimes. Forensic accountants have some duties when being involved in criminal investigations, such as analyzing personal and business documents, tracing and recovering hidden assets, and tracking and reconstructing transactions and wire transfers. From the information provided above, it is easy to see that the need for forensic accountants in the field is growing rapidly. Fraud is something a traditional accountant may stumble upon in their career, but a forensic accountant is a person whose job is to detect it. As stated in the article, some of the duties forensic accountants have when helping with fraud investigations are detecting employee theft and fraud, investigating embezzlement, looking for inconsistencies in financial filings, assessing financial losses, and assisting with insurance claims and restitution orders or agreements.

Fraud falls under the investigative side of a forensic accounting because in a sense the accountant is acting as a detective. The other side of a forensic accountant is they can testify as an expert in court. Personally, I never expected for a forensic accountant to be involved in divorce cases, however if makes sense that a forensic accountant will usually assist in dividing assets and other valuables owned by one or both spouses during the marriage. Asset tracing is a key way for a forensic accountant to detect if someone has tried to conceal assets. Amongst others, some of the duties forensic accountants have helping with divorce cases are evaluating a spouse’s personal and business statements, tracing assets, debts, income, determining the value of concealed assets, ensuring equitable distribution and helping with divorce negotiations. Overall, the forensic accountant is there to help a spouse so that he or she has an opportunity for a fair and equitable distribution of the assets.

I think that with the evidence presented in this article it is evident that there is a need for forensic accountants in legal cases when it relates to finances. Forensic accounting is interesting to me because I always wanted to be a detective, but I knew that the job market was not going to consistent.  Therefore, it is exciting to find out that forensic accountants can serve the public in this way.

Kimberly is a graduate forensic accounting student at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University.

Reference: Rinder, Henry. “What Types of Legal Cases Require a Forensic Accountant.” Smolin Lupin. 7 Oct. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. .

Posted by Alexander D. Bakogiannis.

Earlier this year the SEC reported that a medical device company named Orthofix was being charged with improperly booking revenue and making improper payment to doctors and government owned hospitals in Brazil.

They improperly recorded revenues as soon as a product was shipped before securing payments. When a company makes revenues from its operations, it must be recorded in their ledgers and then reported on the income statements every reporting period. According to GAAP, there are two criteria the company must meet before it can record revenues. First there must be a critical event that triggered the transaction process, and the amount collected from that transaction is measurable within a certain degree of reliability.  These wrongdoings cost the company over $14 M to settle charges.

One specific instance involved Orthofix recording revenue even when they gave their customers significant extensions of time to make payment. A company can recognize revenue from a transaction when the buyer of the company’s good or service agrees to a purchase, and the amount that the customer is going to pay is determined. By giving their consumers all this time to make their payments, the payments are fully determined, thus all the revenues should not have been recorded yet. These accounting failures make the company misstate data on their financial statement from 2011 to 2013. “Their accounting failures were so widespread that it caused them to make false statements to the general public regarding their financial condition”.

Orthofix violated the FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) when their associates in Brazil used high discounts and made improper payments through third parties to solicit doctors employed by the government to use their products; fake invoices were used to facilitate this. All of this could have been avoided or contained if Orthofix had the proper internal controls in place and to ensure that proper payments were being made on their behalf to the correct individuals, and the right data was being recorded at the times times. Unfortunately, this was not the case. As a result, their sales were inflated.

Alex is an MBA with concentration in Accounting, and a Forensic Accounting Certificate, Class of 2017.

Reference:

https://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2017-18.html

Posted by Paul Della Vecchia.

The recent Bloomberg article “Wal-Mart Balks at Paying $600-Million-Plus in Bribery Case” written by Tom Schoenberg and Matt Robinson, depicts a long standing bribery case Wal-Mart participated in. The article is dated October 6^th, 2016. Wal-Mart is said to have been paying foreign officials in Mexico, India, and China. They did this to take a fast track into getting into those countries. A fast track is speeding up the process to start a business in a country, and it allows them to get their business permits. Wal-Mart reported sales of $482 billion, and $14 billion in profits. In this case alone, “Wal-Mart has already spent $791 million on legal fees and an internal investigation into the alleged payments and to revamp its compliance systems around the world, it said” (Schoenberg and Robinson). These legal fees are starting to add up as the investigation goes longer, but Wal-Mart is not looking to settle. To settle the case, it would be $600 million.

Bribing foreign officials is illegal under the 1977’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Wal-Mart tried to outsmart the system by “Calculating a fine based only on the amount of the alleged bribes, as the department has done in some cases, would yield a lower penalty, they said” (Schoenberg and Robinson). Companies are in the business of making money, and Wal-Mart looked at the pros and cons of this bribery. They believed that they would be able to actually make a profit off breaking the law, and to do that they ran calculations to see whether the fine would outweigh the benefit. Clearly it did not, because they were able to bribe their way to the top, and open more foreign companies. The case is so long standing, because the evidence the officials have is outdated. To work around this, the investigators are trying to look to more recent allocations of bribery from Wal-Mart in Brazil. As each day goes by, evidence becomes more outdated and less reliable. In 2011, “Wal-Mart disclosed possible violations in Mexico to the justice Department and SEC” (Schoenberg and Robinson). There wasn’t much done at the time, and now we fast forward to 2016 and that 5 year old evidence is not looking as clear. So the investigators are beginning to look elsewhere to try and solve this problem. The article also makes reference to attempts to find bribes in China, but to no avail.

Wal-Mart is looking to fight this case, because they are unsure what the criminal charges against them would be. If they decide to settle, the settlement “would rank among the highest levied under 1977’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” (Schoenberg and Robinson). The article relates the Wal-Mart case to the similar VimpelCom Ltd. and Siemens AG case. Both cases deal with bribing foreign officers to win business, and both settlements were higher than Wal-Mart. Judging the case off precedent and the increasing costs of legal fees, settlement should be a viable option for Wal-Mart. A company making $14 billion in profits should be able to sponge any damages done by their illegal acts. Wal-Mart does not want to settle, because they are unaware how it would affect their company. The timing is just not right at the moment to be spending the settlement costs, the article alludes to. “Wal-Mart said Thursday that net income for the year through January 2018 will be “relatively flat” as the company invests in its website and mobile app” (Schoenberg and Robinson). So if they have the option to clear their name and spend a little extra money or settle and have their brand slightly tarnished, they are going to fight for now. This way they are able to compete with Amazon in their work on their mobile app and website for online shopping.

Paul is an graduate accounting student with a concentration in forensic accounting at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University, Class of 2017.

Posted by Caroline Weeks.

On November 5, 2015 a dam in the Brazilian city of Mariana collapsed, resulting in multiple causalities and irreparable damage to the surrounding cities and ecosystems. In total, nineteen people lost their lives. The collapse also “released a torrent of sludge that washed away villages, displaced hundreds of people, and traveled more than four hundred miles through southeast Brazil’s Rio Doce basin before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.” It is said that this is “believed to be the biggest disaster of its kind anywhere.” The yearlong criminal investigation into the collapse recently ended and has resulted in homicide charges being filed against twenty one people in connection with the disaster. Some of the people charged are “current and former top executives of mining giants Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd., and Samarco Mineração SA.” In addition, employees of a consulting firm that performed checkups on the dam were charged with “presenting false stability reports.” This disaster is an example of companies being concerned solely with short run profit maximization and an inherent lack of corporate social responsibility.

The federal prosecutor in Brazil has stated that “the motivation of the homicides was the excessive greed of the companies.” It has been detailed that the victims were killed by the “violent passage of the tailings mud” and that they “had their bodies mutilated and…dispersed across an area of 110 kilometers.” These innocent employees died a cruel and painful death at the hands of corporate greed. Samarco focused on short run profit maximization and did not take into account the effects of their actions. The prosecutor says that there is evidence that Samarco, and its shareholders, were “aware of chronic structural problems” as early as April 2009. If this is true, the company knew about critical problems with the structure for more than 6 years and chose to continually ignore the warnings. The board not only failed to make the facility structurally sound, but responded to these structural issues by “pressuring the company to extract more iron ore.” If the company had simply taken head to these warnings they would’ve prevented the loss of innocent lives, the damage of surrounding communities, and incredibly expensive lawsuits along with a permanently tarnished reputation. These findings show the goal of the company was to maximize profits as quickly as possible. They did not take into account the repercussions of a dam collapse and innocent people paid the price for their greed.

This fatal event also details Samarco’s lack of corporate social responsibility. The company chose to focus on profits and purposely chose to ignore the issues with their facility. The company did not act ethically and they certainly did not take into account the surrounding communities. As a result of the dam collapse, families have lost their homes, and even entire communities have been washed away. Not only have these villages been destroyed, but so has the surrounding ecosystem. The river “is still tainted a rusty red form the sediment” that washed through the river basin after the dam collapsed. If the company had acted ethically, they could’ve saved lives and communities. This disaster is a prime example of executives acting carelessly in the hopes of inflating their bank accounts.

Caroline is a mathematical finance major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2019.

Posted by Cynthia Mihalenko.

JBS’s plan to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange are uncertain now due to their legal issues. The company, located in Brazil, is the world’s largest meatpacker. Plans for a global reorganization were in place to try and boost their company’s value. JBS is already in the U.S. market, as they own Pilgrim’s Pride and Swift & Company. The new company they would reorganize into would be called JBS Foods International and would be based in Ireland.

Current developments have both JBS’s Chief Executive Wesley Batista and his brother, Chairman Joesley Batista, suspended from managing their companies until the investigation is over. JBS has not announced a new replacement and this has also fueled speculation that JBS’s plans for global reorganization are on hold. Company spokespeople have denied they are changing their plans and also denying any wrongdoing by the Batistas. One investigation is the overbilling in government contracts where some funds were paid as bribes to politicians. Another investigation is whether the company received favorable treatment from Brazil’s National Economic Development Bank. Analysts at some of Brazil’s banks have expressed concern that the legal problem could delay the reorganization as Guilherme Figueiredo, a fund manager at Sao Paulo base investment firm M. Safra states that “Our feeling is that the new (corruption probe) will at least delay the NYSE listing.”

Investors are rightfully fearful of JBS, now that it is under this investigation. No one wants to invest in a company if their CEO cannot be trusted. However, the Wall Street Journal interviewed several analysts and they knew of a large pool of talent that the company could tap into if they needed someone to take over should Wesley Batista step down. This should help alleviate some of the investor’s concerns.

Cynthia is an accounting major at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University, Class of 2019.

Posted by Rizzlyn Melo.

The practice of corruption in any company hurts every single person involved. This is certainly the case with Petrobras, a Brazilian state-run oil company. The corruption that has been associated within the large company has caused it exponential damages and has tarnished the reputations of both business executives and political figures. In the BBC article, it was reported that the company suffered an “overall loss of $7.2 billion” and an impairment charge of $14.8 billion that reflects the decreased value of its assets. These figures represent the first losses the company has suffered in decades.

The unfortunate circumstances Petrobras is currently facing are the results of various criminal activities. One of the most scandalous discoveries made against Petrobras is its members’ involvement in bribery. Bribery can be defined as the unlawful offer or acceptance of anything of value in exchange for influence on a government or public official. Various government officials have been linked to these bribery allegations. Even Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, has endured scrutiny for her alleged involvement. Rousseff was a board member of Petrobras during the time of the illegal activity. Thousands of Brazilian people have protested against their elected president. Later, however, an attorney general of any charges exonerated Rousseff. Another form of corruption Petrobras has been accused of is money laundering, which is the concealment of the origins of money obtained illegally. In this case, money laundering was employed to hide bribes as well as several illegal donations made to political parties.

At least forty politicians are currently under investigation. That number does not even include the numerous business executives that have lost their positions. The criminal activities of this one company have ruined countless lives and has shaken an entire nation. The corruption in Petrobras demonstrates how important business law is in keeping companies such as this in check. Petrobras has lost more trust than profit, and that is something it cannot easily make up.

Rizzlyn is a business administration major with a concentration in marketing at Montclair State University, Class of 2017.

Posted by Kimberly Culcay.

In the article, “What Types of Legal Cases Require a Forensic Accountant,” Henry Rinder describes what a forensic accountant really is and the need for such a professional. The article discusses that there is a difference between a traditional accountant and a forensic accountant. A forensic accountant combines accounting knowledge and legal expertise to help their clients, from individuals to small and large businesses. The forensic accountant is a person that exhibits a curiosity that allows him or her to figure out if a company is hiding something. Some of the legal cases that require forensic accounting are criminal investigations, fraud, shareholder disputes, and divorce. For example, it is common in divorce cases for one party to hide assets to prevent splitting up everything they have.

In criminal investigations forensic accountants help find key elements to help law enforcement officers investigate crimes. Forensic accountants have some duties when being involved in criminal investigations, such as analyzing personal and business documents, tracing and recovering hidden assets, and tracking and reconstructing transactions and wire transfers. From the information provided above, it is easy to see that the need for forensic accountants in the field is growing rapidly. Fraud is something a traditional accountant may stumble upon in their career, but a forensic accountant is a person whose job is to detect it. As stated in the article, some of the duties forensic accountants have when helping with fraud investigations are detecting employee theft and fraud, investigating embezzlement, looking for inconsistencies in financial filings, assessing financial losses, and assisting with insurance claims and restitution orders or agreements.

Fraud falls under the investigative side of a forensic accounting because in a sense the accountant is acting as a detective. The other side of a forensic accountant is they can testify as an expert in court. Personally, I never expected for a forensic accountant to be involved in divorce cases, however if makes sense that a forensic accountant will usually assist in dividing assets and other valuables owned by one or both spouses during the marriage. Asset tracing is a key way for a forensic accountant to detect if someone has tried to conceal assets. Amongst others, some of the duties forensic accountants have helping with divorce cases are evaluating a spouse’s personal and business statements, tracing assets, debts, income, determining the value of concealed assets, ensuring equitable distribution and helping with divorce negotiations. Overall, the forensic accountant is there to help a spouse so that he or she has an opportunity for a fair and equitable distribution of the assets.

I think that with the evidence presented in this article it is evident that there is a need for forensic accountants in legal cases when it relates to finances. Forensic accounting is interesting to me because I always wanted to be a detective, but I knew that the job market was not going to consistent.  Therefore, it is exciting to find out that forensic accountants can serve the public in this way.

Kimberly is a graduate forensic accounting student at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University.

Reference: Rinder, Henry. “What Types of Legal Cases Require a Forensic Accountant.” Smolin Lupin. 7 Oct. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. .