Logistics firm discovers 12-year internal fraud

Overview

Incorporated in the 90s, the company formed a worldwide network of strategic alliances with specialist forwarders, each capable of supplying the highest standard of services and technologies needed to organise and transport cargo throughout the globe.

A 100% Australian-owned company, with a supplier network of over 400, the organisation prides itself on being an innovative provider of solutions and management in the ever-expanding field of transport logistics.

Challenge

An unexpected discovery of a 12-year long internal fraud scheme shocked the team. An employee of 20 years had been exploiting the company’s trust, creating false invoices and diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars to a bank account under a different name.

Initially, the team didn’t pick up on the activity because of a crucial gap in the banking system: banks don’t match BSB and account numbers to the account name.

The first hints of trouble emerged from a basic accounting query. A seemingly ordinary question about distinguishing domestic and airline charges triggered evasive responses, setting off a chain of events that ultimately exposed the complex web of fraudulent actions.

The employee’s outward appearance had been carefully crafted to deceive, with claims of another investment business and a lavish lifestyle. These deceptive layers further complicated the task of identifying the fraud.

Approach

Once the fraud was identified, the company engaged solicitors. However, the situation had already reached a point of no return, as the staff member had fled the country. Attempts to enlist the banks’ assistance proved unsuccessful.

The deception had been so well executed that it left the team scrambling for solutions and, critically, ways to prevent a repeat occurrence.

The Financial Controller’s proactive approach to preventing future fraud led her to Eftsure, a solution offering real-time supplier verification and an array of features designed to safeguard the company’s financial health.

Results

The Financial Controller says that Eftsure provided the team with new visibility into suppliers’ details and banking information, including bank account changes, branch closures or ABN updates – even for the suppliers they engaged less frequently. While the team was relying on trust previously, they now had unprecedented transparency and scalable processes for verifying payee details.

Confidence has now been restored in the company’s payment processes.

With Eftsure in place, the team have:

• Enhanced security. Eftsure’s verification capabilities introduced a new layer of security, ensuring the validity of the bank name, BSB and account number for every transaction. This robust feature meant the team could stop fraudulent activities before they caused financial damage. “If it’s not a green thumb, we don’t pay it” is now the teams guiding principle.
• Streamlined processes. With Eftsure, the Accounts Payable Officer no longer needed to conduct time-consuming and error-prone manual checks of invoices and bank details. “It only takes me a couple of minutes authorising payments now, saving me at least 30 minutes per payment run,” shared the officer.
• Regained confidence. The internal fraud incident had shaken the team’s confidence in their payment processes. Eftsure helped restore it by continuously verifying details and picking up any discrepancies.