Dear Premier - do you see the red flags? Forensic Audit

A forensic audit is the process of reviewing a person's or company's financial statements to determine if they are accurate and lawful.

 

Forensic audits are used wherever an entity's finances or operations present a legal concern.

Forensic audits are performed by a class of professionals with skill-sets in both criminology and accounting who specialize in following a money trail, keeping track of fraudulent and actual balance sheets and checking for inaccuracies in overall and detailed reports of income or expenditures. If they find discrepancies, it may be the auditor's job to investigate and determine the reason for it, or it may be the job of a separate financial investigator.


Red Flags for fraudulent or questionable activity. 

 

Unexplained variances between budgets and actual balances.

 

 

Significant internal control issues.

 

 

 

 

 

Unusual write-offs or unordinary transactions.

 

 

 

Infrequent or late financial reports and reviews.

 

 

 

(Scapegoating) Where people are given a title but without actual responsibility, it can effectively cover up what is going on with those who do have responsibility or power in a situation.

 

The weakening or elimination of a watchdog (such as PUB) for the Corporation.

 

 

 

Staff whispers and rumors “that all is not right".

Budget for a project escalates on a recurring basis.

 

 

 

Contracting an outside accounting firm to validate specific things but not all things. 

 A major indicator can be the act of deletion or pressure on staff to delete, remove or otherwise dump past records or conceal past reports following a senior management change. 

 

 

Falsified estimates, reports, or projections. 

 

 

 

There are any significant conflicts of interest present with senior executive and/or outside contracts/tors. In the case of a Crown Corporation - if any potential conflict of interest is or may be present with an elected official in Government. 

Employing any external consultants or contracting firms who have been found guilty of fraud, bribery, or embezzlement in the past.  

 

 

 

Any corporation that deliberately withholds information from its shareholders.

 

 

 

Questionable payouts or bonuses to Senior Executive where performance does not match results. (happened with Enron)

 

 

Be particularly concerned by any corporation that refuses to do an immediate forensic audit - when several warning signs are present. 

 

In conclusion - I add to all MHA's - ignorance is no excuse when it comes to the law. 

 

Whistle-blowers needed for Muskrat Falls. Send me a message. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muskrat Red Flags - why Dunderdale must be STOPPED

Nova Scotians appear happier with the Emera-Muskrat deal than Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are told their power bills will rise astronomically but even without Muskrat that would happen anyway. This has not been proven and is based on significant speculation and non-facts.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are told without Muskrat Falls development the Island would run out of power in the next few years. This has not been proven and follows a series of incorrect predictions on power supply over the past 30 years. Further as the population continues to decrease and industry continues to fold the real facts defy and are in contradiction to the predictions of government. Energy efficiencies are also not considered appropriately.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are told Muskrat is the "best" option for power for the Island. This has been questioned successfully by many experienced and knowledgeable people - yet there is no believable response from  Nalcor or government.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are told that Nova Scotia will receive cheaper power from the project than they will. Somehow this is necessary to build markets. Why would any government charge its own people double to supply other jurisdictions with subsidized power?

Labradorians are told that bringing the power to the Island to remove some thermal generation is affordable but bringing it to other parts of Labrador is not affordable. In other words Labrador resources robbed again without equitable treatment.

The massive project will not generate significant numbers of long-term high paying jobs for Labradorians but may provide those jobs instead to Nova Scotia.

The project is touted by the government to be a solution to the longstanding issues regarding wheeling power through Quebec. Yet the costly lines being built will not have the capacity to take Gull Island power. That's when Dunderdale and Martin start talking about the right to go through Quebec again. This defeats the first stated objective of avoiding Quebec.

If a federal loan guarantee is available for the Muskrat project - and markets exist in the US and Canada - why do we need to give free power to Emera for a line? Let the market pay for it not the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has not demonstrated that they were unable to achieve a deal with an industrial customer in Labrador for the power development. This despite the aluminum smelter deals in Quebec, Iceland, Greenland, Russia, Norway etc. based on hydro-electric developments.

There are many red flags - more than were obvious during the Upper Churchill yet some 35 years later - this government is willing to do a deal that is worse than the Upper Churchill. Stop this deal - stop the Dunderdale government.

Don`t forget - this government has been unable to forecast oil and revenues accurately on an annual basis -let alone 20 years out.