Vibato Blog

Bitcoin's Escrow Service Chief's Alleged $7 Million Fraud...

tbockwoldt@vibato.com (Teresa Bockwoldt) — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 18:33:55 GMT

Fraud is everywhere and cryptocurrency is an exciting, and yet scary, world to play in. Here is an interesting article about how the head of Bitcoin's Escrow Service may face serious jail time if found guilty of a $7M fraud from William Foxley of Coindesk.com:

Review & Learn: 2016 Internet Crime Report Diagram - How to Avoid Being a Victim

tbockwoldt@vibato.com (Teresa Bockwoldt) — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 14:51:36 GMT

A great article was published today showing highlights of the IC3's 2016 Internet Crime Report. The report, published at www.fbi.gov, included some stastistics and this great visual depicting the victims of internet crime by age group:

Change to Stock Compensation Calculation (Topic 718) due as of 12/15/2017

tbockwoldt@vibato.com (Teresa Bockwoldt) — Thu, 11 May 2017 21:17:18 GMT

A change to the Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718 - formerly known as FAS 123R) was instituted this month and will be applicable to "any entity that changes the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award." Those companies affected by this change should review their overall procedures and internal controls to ensure they are updated to include these new requirements. Be sure to update your testing procedures too so this new requirement isn't missed during controls testing.

Vibato Anti-Fraud News: Why it pays for Auditors to know High-End Brands

tbockwoldt@vibato.com (Teresa Bockwoldt) — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 20:25:55 GMT

It pays for an Auditor to know high-end brands because it is EXTREMELY difficult for people to hide their new-found wealth and typically the first way they show it is through their cars, jewelry, watches, bags, etc. It is human nature to brag and that starts with how you look, the brands you wear, and the car you drive. Case in point - we were once hired to investigate a company that couldn't figure out how they were "leaking so much money” considering they had only 7 employees. So, the first thing I asked for was a list of everyone's salaries and I inquired about each person’s background. Here is what I found:

General Cable Corporate Fined Over $75M for Operating without Proper Internal Control

tbockwoldt@vibato.com (Teresa Bockwoldt) — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 18:58:18 GMT

General Cable Corporate was fined more than $75M for "...not having effective programs & internal controls necessary to proactively address corruption risks and accounting errors." Terrible considering it would have cost them <$50K to become compliant using the Vibato program and they would have also been able to experience the benefits of compliance such as more efficient procedures, shorter close duration, balanced workloads, etc...The CEO & CFO also had to return a total of $5.8M in combined compensation - that they were entitled to - but that they forfeited simply because they failed to follow the rules and comply with the Sarbanes Oxley laws. Expensive lesson...

10 Great Investing Tips from the SEC

tbockwoldt@vibato.com (Teresa Bockwoldt) — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 19:52:29 GMT

This is a great email alert that came out today from the SEC:

Happy Holidays!!!

tbockwoldt@vibato.com (Teresa Bockwoldt) — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 21:43:37 GMT

Vibato would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy Holiday Season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

afox@vibato.com (Alexa Fox) — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 17:01:00 GMT

BATO and the Team would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

COSO - Fraud Risk Management Tools

afox@vibato.com (Alexa Fox) — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 18:45:09 GMT

COSO has created and provided Fraud Risk Management Tools to help prevent and deter fraud from any company. In 2013, COSO created categories for 17 Principles and Components into 5 sections - Control Environment, Risk Assessment, Control Activities, Information and Communication, and Monitoring. Now COSO has created a fraud management tool for each of the 5 categories.

FIFA Hires New Auditors - Part 5

afox@vibato.com (Alexa Fox) — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 22:09:25 GMT

This 5 part series focuses on the recent FIFA scandals, the people in charge, and the many changes in auditors.