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 We are grateful to have the opportunity to provide you this valuable information via our monthly e-newsletter and our
unparalleled forensic accounting and
fraud investigative services.
The goal of this e-newsletter is to provide you critical, inside information that will help you "follow the money" in business disputes, divorce cases, fraud cases, estate matters, corporate embezzlement and to prevail when defending an IRS criminal case. We will do this by sharing the knowledge we have from our 25+ years of experience as an IRS Special Agent and 15 years as a private investigator / forensic accountant.
We take special care to ensure the information we provide you in "The Beacon" is the latest and most current information available.
In this edition, we share about how a Forensic Accountant can help with ownership disputes in closely held businesses and how to file a claim to receive money back you sent to a fraudster via Western Union.
We want to write about topics that will assist you in prevailing with criminal or civil cases whether IRS cases or divorce cases. Please e-mail us your topics of interest to
Thebeacon@sageinvestigations.com
We encourage you to share our e-newsletter with others in your sphere of influence.
We wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season!
Sincerely,
Edmond J. Martin
Principal, Chief Investigator
Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
Texas Certified Investigator (TCI)
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Ownership Disputes in Closely Held Businesses: How a Forensic Accountant can help
Ownership disputes occur in a number of different forms in closely held businesses. These businesses are owned by a small number of owners which will include minority interest holders and majority interest holders. They are generally organized as a joint venture, a form of partnership, or corporation. Business ownership disputes include but are not limited to the following:
- Breach of contract
- Breach of fiduciary duty
- Violation of Non-compete agreements
- Embezzlement or misuse of business funds
- Unfair treatment of minority owners
- Forced buy-out
- Any other issue that involves the investigation of the actions of a partner or shareholder, to determine what happened to business funds
Within these disputes a forensic accountant or a forensic accountant certified in business valuation may assist an attorney by calculating actual damages, valuing the minority interest or calculating the damages resulting from acts unfulfilled.
As an example, a minority shareholder of a very successful, closely-held business filed a lawsuit against the majority shareholders claiming he was treated unfairly and requested he be bought out. The attorneys representing the majority shareholders retained the services of a forensic accountant to investigate the plaintiff. The investigation revealed
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A Christmas Gift for Defrauded Individuals
 On January 19, 2017, The Western Union Company (Western Union) agreed to forfeit $586 million to settle charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The company admitted to criminal violations including failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act and aiding and abetting wire fraud. The U. S. Postal Inspection Service investigated various schemes in which fraudsters contacted victims and falsely posed as family members in need, federal law enforcement officials, or falsely promised prizes, loans, employment opportunities, discounted products, or other financial awards. The fraudsters directed the victims to send money through Western Union to help relatives, avoid imprisonment or arrest, or to claim prizes, receive loans, employment, products, or some other financial award. No one received the cash, prizes, or other promised items.
FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said, "Western Union owes a responsibility to American consumers to guard against fraud, but instead the company looked the other way, and its system facilitated scammers and rip-off. "The agreements we are announcing today will ensure Western Union changes the way it conducts its business and provides more than half billion dollars for refunds to consumers who were harmed by the company's unlawful behavior."
Chief Richard Weber of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) stated, "Western Union's blatant disregard of their anti-money laundering compliance responsibilities was criminal and significant. IRS-CI special agents - working with their investigative agency partners - uncovered the massive financial fraud and is proud to be part of this historic criminal resolution."
Therefore, if you wired funds from a Western Union location between January 1, 2004 to January 19, 2017, and believe you were a victim of the fraud described above, visit:
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About Us
Serving your needs is our priority.  At Sage Investigations we are dedicated to serving our clients nationally, to help them navigate the difficulties of dealing with the IRS, and other complex (forensic) financial fraud investigations both civil and criminal. By narrowing our focus to our primary strength of following the money, we steer our knowledge, efforts, and experience to financial issues. We help our clients propel their cases forward by assisting in the review, acquisition, and organization of financial records, evaluating the elements of their cases, and helping create winning strategies. Through the use of our proprietary advanced financial investigative technology we analyze complex financial data quickly, easily and efficiently, saving our client's time and money. Sage handles all cases with altruism, professionalism, honesty, integrity, passion and respect. When you hire Sage, you hire a team of professionals with skill and knowledge that helps you have more effective solutions. We are innovative with our DIO cutting edge technology, and perform every investigation in an orderly and organized manner to develop a clear investigative roadmap and deliver a quality work product. The compass that guides us is strong leadership and accountability. Learn more... Contact Us
P.O. Box 160161
Austin, TX 78716 Phone: 512-659-3179 Fax: 512-328-6878 Email: support@sageInvestigations.com www.sageinvestigations.com Texas License #A10803 |
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