Investigations

There are two times to investigate. The first is before a negative event occurs in order to prevent it. The other is once the horse has left the barn. We have extensive experience doing both.

Our Expertise

Mike is a certified expert in forensic accounting (CFF) and investigations into fraudulent activities (CFE). Further his professional career, be it as an auditor, lawyer, financial expert or investment manager, is based on the same core set of skills:

• Reviewing documentation
• Interviewing (and deposing) witnesses
• Researching supporting information
• Extrapolating from this data information not discoverable
• Distilling the foregoing into relevant and material evidence
• Communicating findings to all relevant stakeholders

Investigating Risks and Preventing Loss

• Preventative measures are the best way to limit losses.
• Mike works with companies to identify risks and develop programs to mitigate those risks. Risks must be communicated to relevant stakeholders, implemented, monitored, measured and modified as circumstances change. Prevention must be dynamic.
• Having defended Big Four accounting firms in dozens of cases involving accounting fraud, Mike knows fraud is seldom innovative. Instead fraud generally occurs because of lax implementation and monitoring of existing controls and safeguards.
• Keliher Consulting works with management on an ongoing basis for dynamic prevention and keeps clients abreast of fraud prevention improvements by regularly communicating via white papers.

Investigating Specific Matters

Internal Investigations

Due to the sensitive nature of internal investigations, it is difficult to set forth too specifically any experience.  In general:

• Years of experience investigating health-care companies in connection with criminal investigations.
• Years of experience investigating health-care companies in connection with governmental civil investigations.
• Years of experience as an internal auditor at an oil and gas conglomerate. Investigations revealed financial fraud, embezzlement, theft, kickbacks.

Fact Development with Outside Counsel

• Mike’s 17 years of litigation experience was focused primarily on pre-trial fact discovery.  This included overseeing massive document productions, crafting discovery requests and reviewing document produced by opposing parties, and preparing materials for use in depositions and trial.
• Combining the audit and legal experience, Mike has nearly 30 years experience in reviewing documentation involving viewing in aggregate review of 8 figures in document pages.
• The work that was done both in internal audit and as a lawyer involved working with outside counsel.

Scalability and Network

Keliher consulting maintains extensive professional networking with individual professionals and other firms so it can effectively staff complex matters. A main benefit of this network is to identify particular expertise as need without passing the significant overhead costs of a large organization on to its clients.

Books and Reading Material of Interest

• The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron byBethany McLean
• Predators Ball by Connie Bruck
• Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower by Cynthia Cooper
• Den of Thieves by James Stewart
• Frankensteins of Fraud by Joseph Wells
• Conspiracy of Fools by Kurt Eichenwald
• Stolen without a Gun: Confessions from inside history's biggest accounting fraud - the collapse of MCI WorldCom by Walter Pavlo