Tonight’s episode – The team probes the death of a woman whose dot.com company crashed.

Sitting around the table, reviewing a table covered in financial documents relating to potential insider trading (short selling) of the victim company’s stock

Investigator Danny Pino (Scotty Valens) says, “can’t we call some forensic accountants to read this stuff?’  The other investigator Thom Barry (Will Jeffries) replies (moaning), “these are worse than those poems last year.”

Great stuff – for us forensic accountants.  Job security.

Here’s a link to the show’s website:  http://www.cbs.com/primetime/cold_case/recaps/

Access – allowing those authorized to have access, anytime, anywhere, and even more importantly, keeping those who are not authorized from accessing it.  The safeguards (both systemic system controls and manual-based policies and procedures) will dictate how strong the system will be, but how these controls, policies and procedures are maintained on an ongoing basis is potentially even more important.  Systems change, personnel change, and non-compliance to any safeguard could result in best case scenario, unauthorized access to your systems and data, and worst case scenario, the compromise and theft of key valuable proprietary information.

Security – how secure is your data, the systems, and the uninterrupted continuity of both?  How are the systems and data secured both physically and electronically?  As with access, the system and manual controls implemented will dictate how strong security is over your information, but ongoing compliance (and assurance that compliance continues) are also critical.

Some issues I have yet to overcome to allow me to support the “Cloud” movement – 1) what happens if a dispute develops between the contracting business using cloud services, and the cloud provider?    Under the old in-house configuration, the business simply withheld payment to the outside IT folks, and found new IT solutions while the differences were resolved / litigated.  Under cloud-based solutions, the cloud provider could simply turn off access to their cloud-based systems (and data), holding all the leverage towards resolving the dispute.  Relationship good – switched on, and relationship goes sour – switched off (no one has access to anything).

2) Today’s denial of service attacks on websites in response to the US Government’s abrupt shutting down and taking over www.megaupload’s website identify two genuine risks to access and security of your on-line systems and information. First, what if your business relied heavily on moving files back and forth between locations, sites, countries… using www.megaupload’s site.  The government’s decision to abruptly shut-down the company’s website service and business directly impacted your access to the files stored, or in transition, let alone having you find another solution to continue running your business.  Could the government do something similar to any web-based giant many businesses rely upon, sites like Google?  Who knows?  The fact is, abruptly today, with no notice for planning, the government shut the site and business down, ending all communications with it, resulting in holding all the leverage in resolving any issues the government had with the organization or its practices.  All the while, the megaupload’s business will remain closed, and any business or individual who used it will be left out, looking in from the outside.  It is similar to when the FDIC abruptly takes control over a financial institution – an abrupt closing, with no notice, leaving banking customers looking in through the doors wondering how and when they will ever gain access again to their funds.  One major difference history has shown is the banks tend to re-opened shortly after take-over, and the denial of access to funds is short lived.  When and if websites and internet-based solutions that are shut down will ever be open for access again is anyone’s guess.

3) Notwithstanding the government’s take-over, individuals and organizations with ill-will can also interfere with access and security to your systems and information.  Today’s denial of servcie attacks caused shut-downs of systems, preventing any access until the attacks were addressed.  How could a denial of access attack to your cloud provider’s system impact your access, your employee’s access, your customers’ and vendors’ access?  How much business would be lost if access to your systems and data was lost for even one business day?  The scenarios are not hard to imagine.  One cloud provider seeking more business could orchestrate a denial of access attack on a competitor’s cloud system, with the goal of luring the competitor’s customers over to their systems.  This type of “competitive” activity has always existed.  Why would anyone believe it wouldn’t within the electronic world?

Perhaps I am less open-minded to expanding into “cloud” solutions based on my experiences in forensic and litigation matters, where loyalties, contracts, duties, services, systems and data have been routinely violated regardless of the safeguards, controls, laws, regulations and consequences that existed.  In the end, today’s attacks continue to show me just how vulnerable businesses and individuals alike are, if they are heavily vested and reliant on solutions outside of their control for accessing and utilizing their systems and information.

Here’s an article relating to today’s attacks:

Go to cnn.com

Although banks may have changed their business strategy, and reversed their plans to charge monthly fees for use of a debit card, coupled with at least one posted response citing Mastercard and Visa setting low to no liability limits due to fraudulent activity on a debit card account, my position on debit cards remains unchanged.

Loose them!

You have to experience debit card fraud for yourself personally, or in my case three times, to appreciate that while you may not have ultimate liability for the illegal activity and unlawful withdrawals from your account, you will still be out of your funds and at the mercy of the financial institution to put them back.

If during the time funds were inappropriately taken and the time the bank puts your funds back into your account other bills such as your mortgage and credit cards were due, you may not be able to pay those bills timely, which could have a negative impact on your credit score and history.

In one actual case with a client, the unlawful withdrawal from the company account occurred in February.  They are still waiting for the bank to put their funds back, some nine months later.  They have, however, been told by the bank that they won;t be responsible for the fraudulent activity – lot’s of help that has been without use of their funds for so ling.

It there any reason why you can’t abandon your debit card, return to a traditional credit card, and pay the balance off each month?

Here’s the link to an article:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/bank-america-drops-plan-debit-card-fee/story?id=14857970

A car traveling like a race car through the neighborhood in the middle of a Sunday afternoon.  Kids (my kids, nieces and nephews) playing on the sidewalk near the street, cars parked in the street out front with relatives getting into them, and along comes the race car, again!  The second time since I arrived, potentially the fourth time in total total.  Each time you could hear it coming.

With the sound much like the Indy 500, the driver races at top speed past the house, skids and slides in the street two houses down, and proceeds to spin around in the street, smoking the tires with his engine blarring.  Off like a bullet, the driver skids again, spins 180 degrees, and continues.  Spinning once again, he continues to race the engine, spin the tires, pour off smoke and screams away.  All with the kids standing less than fifty to a hundred feet away, to as close as the width of the street away as he approaches the house.

As the race car attempts to speed away, crossing past the kids, the relatives getting into their car parked in front, and all the neighbors watching what he was doing, the tires grab and instantly the car lurches out of control and into a large tree, causing instant destruction of the car.  Right across the street (twenty or so feet) from my kids in the front yard and the parked cars in front of the house.

Expecting the driver to be impacted, we were all amazed when the driver crawled out of what was left of his Camaro race car, head bleeding, and ran through the backyard where he proceeded to run through the woods along the highway.  State and local police, along with their tracking dog… never caught him.

To see it live, up close and personal was surreal.

One day Paulson steals the bank vault’s contents (not exactly an embezzlement), and nervously escapes to France, constantly looking over his shoulder with fear of being caught.  He checks into a rooming house where another guest is busy fleecing fellow guests.  Paulson detects exactly what he is doing and is all over it – warning the guests to be cautious.  It seemed as if Henry would never lead the exciting life he dreamed with his stolen money, until he used some of the funds to help another guest (being extorted by the man).  For his next act of charity, he sponsored a party for orphans, something that clearly made him happy.  Shortly thereafter detectives catch up with him at the home, and he died from his ailment – having spent only a fraction of the stolen funds.

The book this movie was based upon was much more in tune to an embezzlement by a bank employee in 1947.  The story as told through Paulson was quite different from the storyline in the book.  However, it was a pleasure to travel back in time to the early 1950s, and watch how the bookkeeping was maintained for the bank.  The irony here was that there were checks and balances of their manually-maintained books and records – at the beginning and end of each day, one employee reviewed and reconciled the others’ work.  In each scene, the safe was always opened by two employees.

One could only wonder what would have happened if Paulson simply skimmed funds on a regular basis and forced the ledgers to balance.  It seemed clear the other employees as well as the manager trusted Henry, as he had been at the bank for so long (31 years).  Henry was given a poor prognosis and a short time to live, and in response took a large amount easily and quickly noticed by the manager.  Had Henry been given more time, I am confident he could have accomplished his theft, retired off to France, and the loss would have likely gone undetected.  That would have made it more consistent with a common embezzlement scheme by a trusted employee versus a robbery.

Here’s the URL to the movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121241/

Every once in a while I come across something that simply takes me away and makes me laugh (out loud even), and reminds me of what is most important in life – my health, my family, my friends, and the health of my family and friends.  Everything else compliments one of these.

My father-in-law, an avid fisherman, took me out fishing on his boat once, it was our first fishing trip together.  The father of three girls, I was the first male to come into his family.  I remember the trip like it was last week, and try as he did to impress me with his fishing skills, he and I both know the first event on our trip that set the tone for the rest of our day.  I’ll keep it our secret to prevent embarrassing him, but as you watch the linked video below, you’ll get an idea.

Recently he sent me a link to fishing video bloopers that not only made me remember that first event of our day, but also made me tear up laughing at this fishing pro and his trials and tribulations of taping his segments.  Be sure to watch the full three minutes – they get funnier as they progress further into the segment.

I hope the video clip makes you smile and brightens things for you as much as it did for me tonight.  Enjoy!

http://www.flixxy.com/best-fisherman-bloopers.htm

I started my list of what I call my life goals, and listed things (with the aid of my now wife)  we mutually wanted to do.  I documented my list, and over time I have added to it.

The most rewarding part of the process is when I look back at my list and mark off the things I actually set out to accomplish and completed.  I have had the fortune of accomplishing many of my initially listed items.  For example, I attended the Olympics, visited Carribean Islands, watched the ball drop in Times Square in New York City on New Years’ Eve, flown an airplane, obtained my EMT certification, achieved black belt in martial arts, went scuba diving, and as of last week went flying in a helicopter.

Over time I have added new goals to my original list, of which I have accomplished some of those as well.  I am an adjunct professor, I have been the keynote speaker at national conferences, and I have published three books (all in the last year).  I look back at my accomplishments and know it was attributable to the advice I received so long ago.

Remaining on my list are items including learning sign language, attending a major parade, visiting Hawaii, appearing on national television and being featured in a well-recognized magazine like Time or Wall Street Journal.  I know these may never happen, but if I don’t list them, they never likely will.

I often talk with students, mainly at the high school and college levels, but at times with younger students as well, and I encourage them to set themselves goals starting at an early age – goals that pertain to what they want to accomplish in their next five years.  I pass along the advice and wisdom I received which has really helped me accomplosh so much.

If as you are reading this you don’t have life goals set for yourself, take a few moments to think of the things you wish to do in life, the things you want to do with money no object, no matter how far away and how impractical they may be, and write out your list.  Post your list somewhere where you will see it every day, and you may just be surprised how well you do with your goals.

It is not uncommon to hear that the jails have limited capacity, and the space is needed to incarcerate the violent offenders.  However, the message has been out for some time that financial crime suspects may never see the inside of a jail cell, which could play a large part in why we are seeing so many of these crimes with the amounts stolen reaching staggering amounts.

One judge in Houston, Texas delivered a sentence to Daniel Mireles this past week after being found guilty of stealing more than $250,00, a sentence I have been waiting to see for years.  Mr. Mireles has to walk the busy streets of Houston one weekend day each week holding a sign acknowledging he stole $250,000 – one day a week for SIX years.

Mr. Mireles’ wife, Eloise, was also convicted and is serving six months.  Once she completes her jail sentence, she will also have to walk with her sign for SIX years.

Another interesting element to this story is that the Mireles’ stole the funds from the Crime Victims’ Funds, where Mrs. Mireles worked in the district attorney’s office.

Cruel and unusual punishment – holding a lightweight sign out in public in lieu of being jailed – I applaud Judge Fine for trying to start curbing the growing trend of employees stealing from their employers.

Here’s a link to the story:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1319706/Judge-orders-Daniel-Mireles-wear-thief-sign-SIX-years-Houston.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

The Boy Scouts. http://www.scouting.org/

Trustworthy    Loyal     Helpful     Friendly     Courteous     Kind

Obedient     Cheerful     Thrifty      Brave      Clean      Reverent

In fairness, as I only have boys in our family, I was told the Girl Scouts have a very similar character building motive for young woman.  In searching for these traits tonight, I was moved by an article I found by Janet Lombardi posted on the Girl Scout’s website.  Although directed towards girls and the Girls Scouts, it is easily gender neutral in the message.

From her article “Sowing the Seeds of Character” -

“Q: Why is character-building so important today?
Our children are getting hit with a huge barrage of mixed messages. They are confronted with peers, not-so-great adult role models, and media where they hear about top CEOs who value money more than ethical behavior. They are receiving unfiltered information from the Internet, song lyrics, video games, and TV. Character-building is nothing new. Socrates and Aristotle spoke about it. They believed that “You are what you are because of what you do repeatedly.”    Exactly!

“Q: How does moral intelligence connect to character?
Moral intelligence consists of seven essential virtues—empathy, conscience, self-control, respect, kindness, tolerance, and fairness—that guide your character. Once you plant the virtues, you can teach girls the skills to empower them so they can provide their own moral compasses.”   We seem to only hear about moral compasses when they seem to go astray.

Here’s the link to her entire article:  http://www.girlscouts.org/for_adults/parenting/articles/sowing_character.asp