Practice 1
Corporate and economic security
Losses inside a company rarely look like theft. More often they are a process in which somebody has the opportunity, the motive and the confidence that nobody is looking.
The client's situation
- The numbers diverge from expectations and every explanation sounds plausible.
- There is a suspicion of abuse in procurement, warehousing or settlements, but no evidence base.
- A transaction or restructuring is coming and you need to know where the company is exposed.
- The owner has stepped back from operations and lost an independent source of information.
What is usually at stake
- Direct financial losses that continue until the source is found.
- Loss of evidence: careless first moves make facts unusable for any later decision.
- Conflict inside the team if the review is handled crudely.
- Reputational and contractual consequences if a counterparty finds the problem first.
The applicable approach
Reconstructing the process
We establish how the operation actually runs: who decides, who executes and who checks.
Working with company data
Analysis of accounting and source documents, comparison of versions and search for discrepancies — using data the client provides.
Interviews and controlled procedures
Conversations with staff within lawful limits and with notice; control procedures such as mystery shopping.
Closing the exposure
Recommendations on procedures, segregation of duties and controls so the same scheme cannot repeat.
Format of the deliverable
- A report separating “established”, “hypothesis” and “cannot be verified”.
- A process map with the risk points marked.
- The decisions the report supports — and those for which the data is insufficient.
- Recommendations for closing the gaps and, if required, support during implementation.
Lawful boundaries
- We do not access correspondence, banking or other legally protected information, and we do not conduct covert measures reserved to state authorities.
- Staff interviews are voluntary and conducted with notice.
- We do not guarantee recovery of funds, dismissal or anyone being held liable: those are decisions for the owner, the employer or the court.
FAQ
Can the review be run without the team finding out?
Part of the work is done quietly, on documents the client provides. Anything that requires the participation of staff is done openly: we do not use covert methods outside the law.
What if the review does not confirm the suspicion?
We say so directly. The absence of confirmation is a result too: it removes tension and moves attention to the processes.
How does an engagement start?
With an applicability review: a short conversation after which we say whether the task can be solved lawfully and what scope it needs.
Not sure which practice your situation belongs to?
Describe it in two or three sentences — we will tell you whether we are applicable and what the next step is.