Invoice & Supplier Fraud Expert Witness UK
Invoice and supplier fraud involves the creation of fictitious suppliers, inflation of supplier invoices, or submission of sham invoices for work not performed - often with secret payments made back to the employee or their connected company. Employees in accounts payable, procurement, or finance roles exploit weaknesses in the three-way matching process and vendor approval controls.
Investigation begins with vendor master file analysis - identifying suppliers with residential addresses, similar names to legitimate vendors, recently created entries, or unusual payment patterns. Three-way matching compares invoices against purchase orders and delivery records to identify unsupported payments. Payment tracing follows funds to bank accounts and identifies links to employees.
Kickback schemes require tracing both sides of the fraud - overpayments to the supplier and secret payments from the supplier back to the employee. Forensic accountants quantify the total loss to the employer and identify control failures that enabled the scheme, producing evidence suitable for civil recovery and criminal proceedings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do forensic accountants investigate invoice fraud?
Invoice fraud investigation involves: analysing the vendor master file for suspicious entries (residential addresses, newly created suppliers, similar names to legitimate suppliers); matching invoices against purchase orders and delivery records (three-way match); tracing payments to bank accounts and identifying whether accounts are linked to employees; and reviewing approval workflows for control failures.
What is a kickback and how is it detected?
In kickback arrangements, a supplier renders invoices at inflated rates or for work not done, then makes secret payments to the employee's company or account. This scheme requires forensic accountants to trace both sides - the overpayments to the supplier and the secret payments from the supplier to the employee.
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