By Jennifer Bernardo on Posted in Employment Related FraudA recent decision from the Ontario Superior Court demonstrates the overlap between civil and criminal findings, and how an employer can use a criminal verdict to recover additional damages in a civil claim. In Atlas Copco Canada Inc. v. David Hillier 2018 ONSC 1558, rendered March 7, 2018, an employer “piggybacked” off of a criminal… Continue Reading
By Mark Ellis on Posted in Employment Related Fraud,Fraud PreventionRecently Canadian singer Alanis Morissette became the latest well-publicized victim of fraud at the hands of one she employed and trusted: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/36316327. She joins a long list of celebrities who have suffered fraud at the hands of those employed to trust, amongst them the Beatles, Beyoncé, David Bowie, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Elvis,… Continue Reading
By George Avraam and Cherrine Chow on Posted in Employment Related FraudSenior executives are sometimes indemnified against costs and expenses incurred as a result of legal proceedings that might be brought against such employees. Indemnification of this kind provides the executives with a level of security in which they can make necessary, often difficult decisions required in their roles without fear of being exposed to liability,… Continue Reading
By George Avraam and Cherrine Chow on Posted in Employment Related Fraud Employees are often reluctant to report suspected misconduct because they fear retaliation from those that are engaged in the misconduct. This often prevents companies from discovering employee-related fraud at its early stages. While employer surveillance can go a long way to discovering wrongdoing in the workplace, employees are in a better position to know… Continue Reading
By Cherrine Chow on Posted in Employment Related Fraud,Fraud RecoveryOn March 19, 2014, Toronto police arrested 3 York University employees in connection with an alleged fraudulent billing scheme. The alleged fraud is reported to have cost York University close to $2 million over a 7 year period. The University became aware of the matter through a whistleblower, and immediately engaged an external accounting firm to conduct a… Continue Reading
By Mark Ellis on Posted in Cybersecurity,Employment Related FraudEmployee surveillance is an excellent and available method by which companies can protect against fraud. Monitoring of company-supplied hardware, software and access is perfectly legal and arguably compelling in Canada. Many still act under the mistaken belief that when it comes to personal communications such as e-mail and social media forums such as Facebook and… Continue Reading
By George Avraam and Cherrine Chow on Posted in Employment Related FraudIn this age of technology, the risk of departing employee theft and fraud has increased substantially. Departing employees are no longer limited to removing printed confidential business information, but can abscond with business information, trade secrets, client contacts, and other similar material using, for example, an external disk drive or an external email account. How… Continue Reading
