JUNE 2016
In This Issue

 

 
We are grateful to have the opportunity to provide you this valuable information via our monthly e-newsletter and our unparalleled forensic accounting and investigative services.

The goal of this e-newsletter is to provide you critical, inside information that will help you prevail when defending an IRS criminal case. We will do this by sharing the knowledge we have from our 25+ years of experience as an IRS Special Agent.

We take special care to ensure the information we provide you in "The Beacon" is the latest and most current information available. In this edition, we explain how books and records are needed to follow money.

We want to write about topics that will assist you in prevailing with criminal IRS cases. Please e-mail us your topics of interest to Thebeacon@sageinvestigations.com 
 
We encourage you to share our e-newsletter with others in your sphere of influence.
 
Sincerely,
 
Edmond J. Martin
 
Principal, Chief Investigator
Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
Texas Certified Investigator (TCI)
To Follow Money, Books and Records Are Needed

Any financial investigation, specifically income tax (civil or criminal), partnership embezzlement, and divorce, require books and records to be successful in tracing expenses and following the money. Without them the chances of success are diminished.
 
In income tax cases it is absolutely necessary for the client to provide all books and records to prepare a return or to aid in defending a client accused of filing a false return. The necessary records consist of accounting system records, the general ledger (or detailed receipts and disbursements journals), journal entries, depreciation schedules, and inventory records. Additionally, it is important to have access to the bank records including bank statements, cancelled checks, wire transfers, and deposit slips for the period involved. It is also important to get access to brokerage records to determine the beginning balances, purchases and sales, interest and dividends, and the ending balances. Furthermore, it is important to access the credit card statements of the client and their spouse, because credit cards are another source of funds that are mixed with personal and business expenditures that are paid periodically.

In the case of partnership embezzlement, the same information is necessary, but the defendant in a lawsuit is reluctant to release the records in discovery. It is best to get the same records as discussed above, including the accounting system in an Excel format to allow the manipulation of the information to facilitate the investigation. Generally PDF versions or paper printouts limit the information available because of truncation of descriptions. If you are limited to PDF and paper there is a means of converting this data to an Excel file without the arduous physical line by line input. Often missed from the request for records is the Audit Report, which most accounting systems have. This allows a trained person to view the changes in transactions and determine who made those changes. The Audit Report in Excel format was very beneficial in proving a $500,000 embezzlement by a CFO of a charitable organization.

In community property States, the law requires a...  
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About Us

Serving your needs is our priority.

  

At Sage Investigations we are dedicated to serving our clients nationally, to help them navigate the difficulties of dealing with the IRS, and other complex (forensic) financial fraud investigations both civil and criminal. By narrowing our focus to our primary strength of following the money, we steer our knowledge, efforts, and experience to financial issues. We help our clients propel their cases forward by assisting in the review, acquisition, and organization of financial records, evaluating the elements of their cases, and helping create winning strategies. Through the use of our proprietary advanced financial investigative technology we analyze complex financial data quickly, easily and efficiently, saving our client's time and money.

 

Sage handles all cases with altruism, professionalism, honesty, integrity, passion and respect. When you hire Sage, you hire a team of professionals with skill and knowledge that helps you have more effective solutions. We are innovative with our DIO cutting edge technology, and perform every investigation in an orderly and organized manner to develop a clear investigative roadmap and deliver a quality work product. The compass that guides us is strong leadership and accountability. Learn more...

 

Contact Us

 

P.O. Box 160161

Austin, TX 78716

Phone: 512-659-3179

Fax: 512-328-6878

Email: info@SageInvestigations.com 

www.sageinvestigations.com

Texas License #A10803

 

 

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