
Higher Education Audit and Assurance Best Practices / Benchmarking Studies Board and Audit Committee Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) Construction Project Risk Management Enterprise Risk Management Financial Modeling and Decision Support Financial Ratios / Benchmarking Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigations Information Technology and Data Privacy Internal Audit Regulatory Compliance Sponsored Research Compliance Strategy and Finance Tax

Forensic accounting and fraud investigations

Baker Tilly provides independent fraud and forensic services to institutions with exposure such as business disputes, embezzlement, and allegations of financial misconduct.

Our credentialed engagement teams combine industry experience with fraud and forensic accounting expertise to deliver customized solutions that meet higher education and research institutions’ specific needs. Our teams work judiciously to help clients to mitigate the risks, costs, and effects of fraud, abuse, corruption, and other forensic matters.

Client experience: Tackling financial misconduct
Institutional challenge A researcher at a prominent university was suspected of fraudulently spending Federal and private funding for personal gain. Capabilities provided Baker Tilly performed an in-depth review of grants held by the researcher in question. We assessed the allowability, allocability, and reasonableness of expenditures per Federal and agency regulations and university policy, and determined to what extent inappropriate purchases were made for personal use. Our review encompassed the areas of payroll, laboratory supplies, human subject payments, travel, and equipment. Additionally, we worked with the university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) to understand and assess the researcher’s compliance with IRB procedures and the approved IRB protocols for each grant. Our findings during this review included several grants without proper IRB approval, as well as projects that had continued despite having IRB approval suspended. Results University management received an objective analysis of the amount of funding that had been misappropriated along with an understanding of key risks and necessary enhancements going forward, both for the individual researcher and the institution as a whole. Our team also worked with external counsel and management to calculate the institution’s exposure, determine the necessity of self-reporting to funding agencies, and assess the feasibility of civil and/or criminal litigation.
Additional forensic accounting and fraud investigations capabilities
Accounting reconstructions Business interruption and other insurance claims Continuous monitoring Damage calculations Expert witness and litigation services Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations Forensic accounting and data analytic services Forensic computer technology services Fraud risk management and anti-fraud services Internal investigations