International forensic accounting, consulting and financial investigation firm RGL Forensics will be providing expert commentary for Spike TV’s “1,000 Ways to Die” in the form of Los Angeles-based partner Robert Jones.
[IMGCAP(1)]Jones, who will speak about corporate espionage and employee fraud, has previously served as an expert witness on high-profile corporate fraud cases.
Jones will be featured on an episode focusing on “a spy who sneaks into a corporation to steal insider information and gets stuck in an industrial dishwasher.” It will air in the show’s third season, in spring 2011.
In the meantime, Jones offers three tips to avoiding employee fraud:
1. Establish clear guidelines for reimbursable expenses. In large and small companies, these expenses can be significant amounts of money and include travel, hotel or large office purchases.
2. Watch for red-flag employee behavior including:
• Excessive drinking or gambling
• Living beyond their means
• Carrying excessive amounts of cash
3. Watch for segregation of duties and make sure you have a checks-and-balances system in place. For many small companies no one is re-checking the finances, leaving a larger opportunity of fraud within the people handling the money.
Overall, Jones emphasizes early prevention.
"Companies don't want the public to think they are unorganized or don't have control of their finances," said Jones in a statement. "This is something that many companies often don't try to prevent in advance and ends up costing them a significant amount of money to fix."
