The Examiner – Insights on Fighting Financial Fraud

With advances in technology, we find ourselves not having to wait for things like we used to. As a kid, I waited for movies, music, and even cartoons. My kids have access to these same things anytime, anywhere. Waiting isn’t fun, and that’s why I encourage you to proactively seek out fraud, rather than waiting for fraud to find you.

My life is full, and I am thankful for all of my blessings. I was lucky enough to meet my beautiful wife, and we have two amazing daughters. I am stronger and healthier than ever. I can run further than I ever thought possible. I ran my first marathon this past January at the age of 40. It is funny how we change because I never ran more than a few miles and that was in high school. In 2012, I started running to lose weight and stay healthy. There were numerous obstacles that I faced before completing my first marathon, but these obstacles were no different than others I had faced before.

Have you gotten your flu shot yet? It is that time of year. Sure, your arm will be sore for a few days, but isn’t that upfront pain worth it? The alternative is you might catch the flu, feel horrible, lose weight, miss work, and worst of all, die from its complications. Well, some may argue that losing weight and missing work may be worth the risk. But, if you’ve ever had the flu, I think you’ll agree that it can knock you out of commission for at least a week and the residual effects can last much longer. If you don’t get the shot, there’s still a chance you won’t catch the flu. And, getting the flu shot doesn’t provide a 100% guarantee that you won’t catch it. There are risks either way. The risk of fraud is similar. 

Believe it or not! I am back in Baltimore to network and learn at the American Health Lawyers Association’s Fraud and Compliance Forum. There are over 50 sessions covering many different topics that are impacting the healthcare industry from a regulatory and compliance perspective. Here are the top 3 take-aways from the keynote address by Joyce Branda, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice:

Fahrvergnügen was Volkswagen’s tagline from the nineties and just an all-around fun word to say. It has been a very long time since I have thought of the word, but the recent news articles and a request from a faithful blog reader brought it back into my life. Volkswagen is receiving a lot of negative press and the news media will continue their coverage because there are still many unanswered questions. I can’t address Volkswagen’s ethical environment, but with regard to this blog post, I can explain how easily ethical breakdowns happen within an organization. 

This blog is the fourth in a four part series How to Solve a Puzzle.

As you can tell from the picture, we made it to the final step of the process. Our family had a great time completing step 3. Now, we must use the left over puzzle pieces to fill in the holes of the puzzle. This step can be a little more challenging than the others because you can easily become distracted and jump from section to section, which can be time consuming. Investigations are similar in that they can gain momentum quickly, but when it comes to wrapping up the loose ends, it becomes tedious and less fun. 

This blog is the third in a four part series How to Solve a Puzzle.

I cannot believe this series is almost over. Out of all the steps, this step is my favorite. It is all about identifying an object and finding the pieces for that part of the puzzle and putting them together. It is exciting because you start seeing the fruits of your labor. The puzzle comes to life in this step. This is also the step in the investigative process when most of the work is performed.

This blog is the second in a four part series How to Solve a Puzzle.

The phrase “think outside the box” is very cliché. We have all heard it and know when we hear it, it’s time to put on our creative hats. However, in this post, I want to focus instead on putting it—the fraud investigation—inside a box. The second step in solving a jigsaw puzzle is putting the perimeter of the puzzle together. The perimeter is important because it gives you a boundary. Plus, it’s an easy way to get started since you only have to worry about connecting two sides of each piece rather than four.

For each post in this four-part blog series, I will use stories that will explain the steps of solving a jigsaw puzzle and tie them to the steps for most fraud investigations. As you may recall, the first step to solving a puzzle was to turn all the pieces face up and locate the edge pieces. I am certain that you understand this basic step, but the directions were a little more difficult for my daughters to understand.

This blog is the first in a four part series.

I have enjoyed working jigsaw puzzles for most of my life. I started with the standard puzzles that come in a box with hundreds or thousands of pieces and branched out into 3D puzzles that required solving rather than completing. I have shared my passion with my two daughters. We have spent hours putting puzzles together.