Anatomy of denials: Distinguish truth from deception

Learning these principles will help you distinguish between good and poor denials and make you a better fraud examiner, executive and decision-maker.

https://www.fraud-magazine.com/article.aspx?id=4295000550


Extract: "A good denial, of course, must be truthful. In the criminal setting, “I am not guilty,” is considered a quasi-good denial. By “quasi” I mean it’s a good denial in this very specific setting. It’s “truthful” since all those arrested are, in fact, “not guilty” until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Even if the subject did the act, they’re telling the truth with this statement. Likewise, the denial “I am innocent” is truthful in the criminal setting for the same reasons. Both are quasi-good denials even if they did that of which they’re accused. But those denials offer little to close the door on allegations......... 

Cognitive biases stuffing up our thinking

Cognitive biases make our judgments irrational. We have evolved to use shortcuts in our thinking, which are often useful, but a cognitive bias means there’s a kind of misfiring going on causing us to lose objectivity. There is a website designed to help you identify some of the most common biases stuffing up your thinking.

For more information and a free poster download go to: https://www.yourbias.is/


Just Integrity Solutions are a proud supporter of The School of Thought.  For more information and free education resources see:https://www.schoolofthought.org/
 

The School of Thought is a non profit providing free education resources on critical thinking, creative thinking, and philosophy.

 

Scathing audit questions tender process for Sydney's $2bn container terminal

Guardian Article: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/24/scathing-audit-questions-tender-process-for-sydneys-2bn-container-terminal

Audit Document: https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/delivery-moorebank-intermodal-terminal

Extract:The objective of the audit was to assess whether the contractual arrangements that 

have been put in place for the delivery of the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal (MIT) 

will provide value for money and achieve the Australian Government’s policy 

objectives for the project.

·         "Value for money progressively eroded during the negotiation of the contractual arrangements."

·          "The procurement process was not sufficiently competitive."

·         "Risks to removing competition from the second stage of the procurement process were identified. Risk mitigations were also identified."

·         "Negotiations took twice as long as had been planned."  

·         "There were shortcomings in the management of probity."

·         “Most of the key detailed documents that are required to complete and operationalise the regime have yet to be developed.”

·         “A compliance regime is in place. There are shortcomings in its design that can be expected to limit its effectiveness.”

·         “There are also other ongoing oversight responsibilities, including in relation to the capacity expansion arrangements. The resources required to undertake ongoing oversight have not yet been quantified.”

·         “The transaction was structured in a way that will enable a privatisation process through the creation of predictable income streams. Such a process is not expected to take place for some years as advice to the Department of Finance (Finance) is that sustainable positive cashflows are not expected for 15 years. There are also contractual restrictions on the entities to which the Australian Government can divest its interests.”

Moorebank Intermodal Company (MIC) “absolutely disagrees with the ANAO’s analysis that the direct negotiations did not secure a contractual commitment aligned to the Australian Government’s preferred approach."

How to investigate companies found in the Offshore Leaks Database

ICIJ Article: https://www.icij.org/blog/2018/01/investigate-companies-found-offshore-leaks-database/ 
 
Extract:
This is the final of a three-part series on ways to search our Offshore Leaks Database that now includes more than 680,000 entities from 55 secrecy jurisdictions. The first installment was How to search the Offshore Leaks Database by location. The second looked at the networks and metadata in the database.

The Offshore Leaks Database is a starting point for investigating activities offshore. ICIJ has published data on more than 680,000 entities as well as 600,000 directors and shareholders. More data will be added in the coming weeks. (Sign-up to make sure you’re the first to know!) Yet, in order to to investigate comprehensively you might need to do research outside the database.

Note: ICIJ partners often run matches on the data in order to find interesting leads.

Happy searching!

Was your Western Union payment part of a scam? Victims may get a refund.

Victims scammed via Western Union may get refund

23 January 2018

The ACCC’s Scamwatch is urging all Australians who lost money to a scammer through Western Union from 2004 to 2017 to take action by 12 February to try to get it back.

Western Union has agreed to pay a penalty of US$586 million to the United States’ Department of Justice (DOJ) after admitting to aiding and abetting wire fraud. The DOJ is using this penalty to provide refunds to eligible people worldwide who were tricked into paying scammers via Western Union.

Australian consumers can use an online form (link is external) or apply by post to have the money they lost refunded by the DOJ. As this is a US-based action, the ACCC is unable to make claims on a consumer’s behalf or assist consumers with their claims

https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news/victims-scammed-via-western-union-may-get-refund