Accounting Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer
Accounting fraud can take many forms and is often subtle, which is why the SEC might reward you handsomely if you have knowledge of it. Work confidentially with an accounting fraud whistleblower lawyer to find out if the SEC will be interested in your information.
Accurate and honest accounting is absolutely essential for a healthy securities industry. In order to make informed decisions, investors need an accurate picture of a company’s financial health and projected earnings. When accounting fraud occurs, it throws all of this into question and can cost investors substantial amounts of money.
If you are aware of accounting fraud, whether it’s intentional or accidental, you could be eligible to receive a whistleblower award by reporting it to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). By working with an accounting fraud whistleblower lawyer from Meissner Associates, you can report your tip anonymously and receive an honest evaluation of how the SEC will react to your information.
How Do I Recognize Accounting Fraud?
Accounting fraud often—but not always—involves the use of non-generally accepted accounting principles (Non-GAAP). Fraudulent accounting can be employed to underreport losses, overstate earnings, and otherwise materially misrepresent financial information. If you aren’t certain if what you’ve witnessed or deduced constitutes fraud, an accounting fraud whistleblower lawyer from our firm can confidentially evaluate your information and make a determination.
Described below are just a few examples of accounting fraud:
- Inadequate Internal Controls – Internal controls are procedures and processes employed to ensure the accuracy of accounting. If a company employs lax internal measures, inaccurate and fraudulent financial reports can be produced.
- Fraudulent Management Estimates – Fraudulent accounting can use made-up assumptions to hide losses. This usually requires widespread and systemic accounting fraud at the company-wide level.
- Auditor-Independence Violations – External and internal auditors must have a reasonable amount of independence in order to accurately perform their duties. If an auditor has an improper relationship with the company or principal being audited, or if the auditor is being harassed, threatened, or extorted into producing a certain report, the SEC needs to know about it.
- Non-GAAP Measures – If non-GAAP measures are being employed to create deceptive financial disclosures, it materially misrepresents the company’s finances.
Whistleblowing Accountants and Auditors
Even if you are an accountant or auditor, you can still potentially become an SEC whistleblower. The SEC does restrict when these individuals are eligible to receive a reward, however. Also, if you are a company insider, you should first report any accounting fraud to the internal compliance program. If this yields no results, it might be time to submit a tip to the SEC.
As an auditor, you might be eligible to receive an SEC whistleblower reward if you believe that the accounting fraud will result in substantial injury to company or investor interests, the company is impeding an investigation into the accounting fraud, 120 days have passed since the accounting fraud was reported to an internal compliance program, or it’s apparent that the company officers were already aware of the accounting fraud.
Become an Accounting Fraud Whistleblower
Meissner Associates has first-hand experience with reporting accounting fraud to the SEC. We helped a client receive $22.4 million—the second-largest whistleblower award paid by the SEC—by reporting a company’s inadequate internal controls.
Find out if your tip could be worth a substantial monetary reward from the SEC. Get a free and confidential tip evaluation from an experienced accounting fraud whistleblower lawyer by submitting the form below or by calling 1-866-764-3100.
