“REPORTING OF FRAUD AND MECHANISMS TO COMBAT THEM”

By Ms. Priya Agarwal

The key lies in building strong ethics and governance by responsible leaders, an environment encouraging reporting of unethical practices and whistleblowers protection

Establishment of reliable Internal Controls, training on the technology like sophisticated spreadsheets and database application being employed to implement these controls along-with special controls for those recruited to monitor this

Arrange for reference checks on new employees and a code of sanction for Suppliers/ Contractors to ensure right appointment while Banks should undertake customer due diligence to prevent landing into controversies

Empowering Shareholder committees, Remuneration committees and so on with a watch list to ensure no corrupt individuals make it to important posts

Identifying risks by using algorithms and development of detailed anti-corruption and bribery policies (Vigil Mechanism) and their implementation, continuous monitoring and giving assurance of the effectiveness of these efforts.

Employ data mining techniques to identify suspicious transactions, E-discovery solution to bring to light the suspects and email tracing to identify the origin of data

Computer Assisted Audit Tools and Techniques refers to the use of any computerized tool or technique which increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the audit function

Understanding cyber threats and developing specific measures to address those assigning roles to the Board and senior management in mitigating cyber threats by providing a checklist to tackle cyber threats.

Manage disputes that arise in the process of addressing frauds and as organizations gear up for growth

Like the concept of plea bargaining, a person concerned with the fraud directly or indirectly should be pardoned or dealt with leniency if he makes a full and true disclosure of all facts in his knowledge.

At Astrea Legal our centre of attention is to protect and prevent damages due to small or major corporate frauds.