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Plante Moran offers tips to protect corporate assets and reputation against fraud

September 30, 2015 / 3 min read

Grand Rapids, Michigan — A string of high-profile embezzlement cases in West Michigan should encourage companies and nonprofits to review their financial processes, according to a partner at Plante Moran.

Michelle McHale, a Grand Rapids partner who leads Plante Moran’s Forensic and Valuation Services, notes that according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, or ACFE, the typical organization loses 5 percent of its revenue to fraud each year — translating to a potential projected global fraud loss of nearly $3.7 trillion.

“Fraud affects more than the company’s bottom line — it affects every single person in your organization,” McHale explained. “Giving your employees the education to detect, deter and report fraud is vital and necessary to protecting both your company’s financial and human assets."

McHale advises companies, large and small, to follow these fraud-reducing guidelines:

“Organizations will find their workforce to be their largest and most effective reporting source,” McHale said. “Maintaining a robust culture of ethics and compliance along with an open door policy for senior management and effective communication channels for reporting employee-related concerns will help employees feel comfortable and engage in fraud prevention.

"When employees are given tools to report policy violations and inappropriate behaviors, they are given a clear signal that management is committed to the elimination of dishonesty in the workplace.” 

About Plante Moran

Plante Moran is among the nation's largest accounting, tax and consulting firms and provides a full line of services to organizations in the following industries: manufacturing and distribution, financial institutions, service, health care, private equity, public sector and real estate and construction. Plante Moran has a staff of more than 2,000 professionals in 23 offices throughout Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois with international offices in Shanghai, China; Monterrey, Mexico; and Mumbai, India. Plante Moran has been recognized by a number of organizations, including FORTUNE magazine, as one of the country's best places to work.

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