PICTURE that Your Money is Stolen...
- Fikret Sebilcioğlu CFE, CPA, TRACE Anti-Bribery Specialist
- Managing Partner
- E-mail to Fikret
PICTURE that the bribe taker and bribe giver celebrate their victory at the roof bar of a luxury hotel while enjoying their high-quality whisky and cigar.
PICTURE that your Accounting Officer responsible for the petty cash obtained fake invoices from his brother worked at a restaurant near your company. Then, he recorded these receipts as “business expenses” that never really occurred and pocketed the money.
PICTURE that your General Manager together with the CFO keeps the stolen money only for a short while before eventually passing the payment on to his employer. Then places the skimmed funds in an interest-bearing account or in a short-term security. The employee earns interest on the skimmed payments while they remain under his control. Eventually, he withdraws the principal and applies it to the customer’s account, but retains the interest for himself.
PICTURE that your Human Resource Manager falsely placed his spouse on your company payroll and salary is paid every month to the bank account of the ghost employee.
PICTURE that your Marketing Manager requested reimbursement for personal travel as a business trip and listing dinner with his friend as “business development”.
PICTURE that your Accounting Executive doctored a receipt through using correction fluid and a ballpoint pen and to reflect a higher cost than what he actually paid.
PICTURE that the daughter of your General Manager had a dinner in a luxury restaurant close to where they live and she paid via her own credit card. But the General Manager included the receipt of this dinner in his expense report by cutting the bottom part of the receipt which show the name of the cardholder to conceal the real payer.
PICTURE that your Sales Executive inflated their expenses to generate cash for a slush fund. This fund was used to pay bribes and to provide improper forms of entertainment for a customer to win a contract.
PICTURE that your Purchasing Director redirected a number of orders to a company owned by a supplier with whom he was conspiring. In return for the additional business, the supplier paid the purchasing agent a %5 commission on each transaction.
PICTURE that your travel agency provided free travel and entertainment to your Purchasing Manager, and in return, the Purchasing Manager agreed to book all your company’s trips through the travel agent. Because there is no competition for the corrupt travel agency, the airfares were overstated and your victim company lost.
PICTURE that your Purchase Manager was authorised to purchase fixed assets for your company. The materials he ordered were of a cheaper quality and lower price than what was specified, but the contract he negotiated did not reflect this. Therefore, your company paid for high-quality materials, but received low-quality materials. The difference in price between the true cost of the low-quality materials and what the company paid was diverted back to your Purchase Manager as a kickback.
PICTURE that your Purchase Director defrauded you by purchasing items from a certain vendor at inflated prices. The vendor was actually owned by the Purchasing Director but established in his wife’s name and run by his brother. The Purchasing Director used his influence to ensure that your company continued doing business with the vendor and paying the overstated prices.
PICTURE that a number of your employees ended up starting their own businesses that compete directly with your company. When this occurred, such employees began siphoning off clients for their own business as well as your other employees.
PICTURE that your CEO provided gifts and cash payments to high-ranking customer officials in exchange for preferential treatment during the bidding process. Your employees were allowed to see his competitors’ bids and adjust his own bids accordingly.
PICTURE that your Sales Director sold products to a customer at a lower price. This customer is owned by his wife on the paper, but the beneficial owner is your Sales Director. As a result, your company made a loss but the Sales Director’s company made a good profit on the fraudulent transactions.
PICTURE that your Managing Director rented a car for the daughter of a high ranking public official in return of obtaining a critical licence required for doing business.
PICTURE that your General Manager set up a shell company and created slush funds through fictitious invoices. Then, he purchased a Rolex watch via slush fund and provided it to a person who has a critical role in decision making process in the upcoming bidding.
PICTURE that your company performed very good as a result of illicit payments and you have decided to pay bonuses to your corrupt employees.
PICTURE that your CEO and CFO decided to capitalise certain expenses fraudulently and as a result your company’s EBITDA appeared much better on the financials.
PICTURE that all of the above cases that I have stated were true incidents.
PICTURE that in the 2016 Corruption Perception Index where the corruption perception is high when the ranking is high, Turkey ranked as 75th although Denmark 1th, Uruguay 21st, Bhutan 27th, Brunei 41st, Rwanda 50th and Jordan 57th.
PICTURE the universality of corruption cases at Panama Papers if somebody tells you “we do not have corruption because our religioun, our race, our flag or our roots are superior or privileged. If somebody still objects, PICTURE that in accordance with the Global Fraud Study of ACFE, the corruption is the most common fraud scheme in the region where Turkey is in.
PICTURE that in accordance with the Global Fraud Study of ACFE, it is estimated that the typical organization loses 5% of revenues as a result of fraud.
PICTURE that the bribe taker and bribe giver celebrate their victory at the roof bar of a luxury hotel while enjoying their high-quality whisky and cigar.
PICTURE bravely and not play ostrich.
PICTURE all you want but PICTURE.
* This title has been inspired by the song of Roger Waters “Picture that” from the album “Is This the Life We Really Want”.