DOJ Issues New Guidance for Corporate Compliance Programs

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DOJ Issues New Guidance for Corporate Compliance Programs

In April 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued new guidance designed to assist federal prosecutors in evaluating corporate compliance programs. In criminal cases, prosecutors will use the new guidance to determine whether a company’s compliance program was adequate and effective. This determination is important because companies can receive more lenient treatment if they had an effective compliance program in place at the time of the offense.

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What We Can Learn From a $5 Million-Dollar Agricultural Cooperative Fraud

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What We Can Learn From a $5 Million-Dollar Agricultural Cooperative Fraud

One of my colleagues from the Agri-Business department of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, knowing my interest in fraud examination, forwarded me an article about a $5 million-dollar fraud that occurred at a Minnesota agricultural cooperative. Published in the online magazine Successful Farming, author Laurie Bedord does a fine job outlining how coop manager, Jerry Hennessey, carried out the crime that lasted over the last 15 years, his motivation for the crime as well as what systems of internal control where lacking that allowed the fraud to be committed in the first place.

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Must Be Fraud on the Brain

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Must Be Fraud on the Brain

Have you bought your tickets for Rihanna’s 2019 tour? Trick question: though fans have speculated that the pop star will announce a new album soon, the singer has given no indication of a 2019 tour. Some entertainment industry scammers, however, recently attempted to extort millions of dollars from investors to fund fake concerts by celebrities Rihanna, Janet Jackson and Bruno Mars.

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Vigilant Shoppers Uncover Fake Price Tags at Supermarkets

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Vigilant Shoppers Uncover Fake Price Tags at Supermarkets

A fraud scheme was recently uncovered in a Tunisian city’s largest hypermarket (also known as a supermarket) when a customer suspected an inflated receipt while paying for his items. By checking the store receipt provided by the cashier, he noticed that some item unit prices did not match the prices displayed on the shelves. He went back to the store and took pictures of the price tags of the corresponding items with his cellphone. Then, he called the store supervisor and asked for explanations as to the difference between the price tags and the prices charged on the receipt. We learned after through the local press to whom the customer reported the facts that he was not given any relevant rationale about the price difference but was nevertheless reimbursed.

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NASA Falls Victim to a 19-Year Fraud Scheme

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NASA Falls Victim to a 19-Year Fraud Scheme

In 2009, NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory mission failed after the satellite couldn’t reach its intended orbit because the structure that encapsulates the satellite during launch refused to separate from the vessel upon command. The same malfunction occurred in 2011, when NASA’s Glory mission satellite was destroyed in the atmosphere after its shell did not open fully. After years of technical and mechanical investigations, NASA Launch Services Program announced on April 30 that they had located the root cause of the mission failures: faulty metals sold to NASA by Sapa Profiles Inc., an aluminum manufacturing company based in Oregon.

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