If you think that white collar crime is something only committed by manicured suit-wearing types in office buildings, it’s time to think again. If you work in construction and you’re shaking your head in disbelief, then consider this your wakeup call. Construction embezzlement happens every day in America, and safeguarding your business against the sly intentions of fraudsters and scam artists could save it from a derailing crisis.
Joy Wilde was the trusted bookkeeper of a Californian construction company. Her boss, Greg Weimann, had no idea that Wilde had been fraudulently siphoning funds out of his business for years. By the time he realized what was going on, she’s embezzled the staggering sum of $877,000 from the company. Last year, Wilde was sentenced to 10 years in jail for her crimes. A satisfying justice, perhaps, but you can bet that recovering from such a devastating loss and the upheaval of a law suit, media coverage, may take the victim just as long.
The tough truth of this tale is that Joy Wilde serves as only one example of endemic corporate fraud—criminality that carries a global annual price tag expected to rise to $1.5 trillion by 2025. So, if white collar crime has nothing to do with the kind of collar on a neck that sits behind a desk, what exactly does the term mean? Simply put, white collar crime describes the actions of anyone in business who illegally takes money from their employer or anyone else they do business with. That means customers, clients, suppliers, or subcontractors can be the target, and crucially, so can you.
Safeguard Your Company Against Construction Embezzlement
Denoting an equally unfriendly term, embezzlement is when someone steals or misappropriates of funds placed in their trust or belonging to their employer. If you run a construction company, then you won’t have any difficulty envisioning the ample opportunity for embezzlement that this industry affords. Payment applications and invoices can be falsified, labor and material costs inflated, change orders manipulated, and the Schedule of Values used to conceal substituted savings and divert funds. When the dangers of bid fixing and collusion are added to this equation, construction companies find themselves in murky waters indeed.
This raises the obvious question: how can such companies protect themselves against the possible impacts of construction embezzlement and other forms of white collar crime? Well, safeguarding can be conducted in a number of different ways. Enlisting a corporate investigations firm to carry out comprehensive background checks and periodic corporate culture audits can help you identify foxes in the hen house before they strike, so to speak. It is our experience that there are usually red flags to be found long before an employee makes off with the spoils. For companies who find themselves having already fallen foul of an embezzler, gathering evidence and acting quickly is the best way to kick-start damage control. Our seasoned and specialist corporate investigators here at Lauth Investigations International help a diversity of companies navigate these kinds of crises every day. We can advise on how to immediately launch an impactive investigation, what other self-protective steps you can take moving forwards, and the moves that you can make in order to reclaim lost assets, bring justice to the criminal in question, and reduce your risk of liability for the fallout of their actions. Whenever the warning bell chimes for white collar crime in construction, don’t hesitate to act. Contact Lauth Investigations International today for preventative and curative assistance.
Culture might be a buzzword within the corporate world these days, but is it really relevant in the construction industry? In truth, great company culture means much more than having beanbags in the office or going on quarterly team building excursions. Instead, it describes how employees feel about their role, their employers, and their co-workers—and the reality is that the culture of any company dictates how smoothly its operations will go. Just as a building needs a firm foundation, the team driving your construction company does too. It’s time for construction culture to become the new “it” term on the block, because when culture’s in your toolkit, the results will speak for themselves.Why You Should Care About Construction Culture
True talent is hard to come by in the construction industry. So much so that 80% of construction companies have a hard time filling specialist craft positions. If I tell you that 46% of job seekers consider the culture they’d enter an important factor, and 86% will actively avoid companies with a bad reputation, might that grab your attention? Going further, there’s so much more to construction culture than attracting and retaining the talent you need to push your company forwards. Establishing this conceptual grail means unlocking your team’s potential for collaboration, commitment, passion, and high-caliber work. If you’re still not convinced, perhaps the potential 202% increase in performance yielded by this kind of jump in engagement will whet your whistle.
So what makes an outstanding company culture—or more specifically, what would great construction culture look like? Well, there’s no clear cut and singular recipe for success, but common themes include the forging of diverse and inclusive teams that, commitment to worksite and employee safety, strong communication, clear values demonstrated by leadership, an environment that allows individuals to feel heard, and opportunity for employee progression. Hammering that last point home, research reveals that 94% of employees would stay in their current role longer if they saw opportunity for professional development.Forging Iron Clad Construction Culture
We’ve covered the reasons to prioritize culture in your construction company, but before we tackle how to tackle the task, what happens when construction culture is neglected? Time and time again, it is our experience that eroding company culture means a fast track to high turnover, employee theft, malingering, workplace discrimination, white collar crime, and worse. Fraud alone costs construction companies around the world an estimated $860 billion annually. So the chances are, if you don’t take the proactive step of calling in an investigator to course-correct company culture proactively, you’ll likely be calling them later to investigate crimes that are breaking down the business you worked so hard to build up.
So, you’ve got the picture—company culture is just as important an investment for your construction company as the latest machinery or cloud-based work order system. But where do you begin? Well, as is the case for so many things in life, it’s vital to understand where you’re starting from. The best way to get the lay of the land is with an industry-tailored culture audit from Lauth Investigations International. Our specialist investigators will perform a detailed analysis of your construction culture, assessing factors such as communication, shared values, company history, caliber of leadership, marketplace positioning, undetected misconduct, and more. From there, we will provide you with a clear and concise road map to get your culture back on track. If you’re ready for guidance on how to move your team onto firmer footing and realize the rewards that come with prioritizing culture in the construction industry, contact our team today.
Workers’ compensation offers invaluable protection to professionals across the USA, but when things get complicated, it can also become a double edged sword for everyone involved. On the one hand, the company that employs the claimant may find reason to believe that their claim is fraudulent in some way. On the other, the insurance company responsible for covering costs following such an incident may feel that the claim is shaky enough to reduce or dismiss the payout. In either case, things can get complicated fast. When these are the kinds of situations you’re navigating, the skills of a corporate investigator—ready to mount a thorough workers’ compensation investigation—will be essential. Their third-party impartial assessment is the only path to ensuring that justice is ultimately done.
Is That Workers’ Compensation Claim Fraudulent?
If you’re a business owner with a sizable claim on your desk and a sense of doubt hanging over you, it can be difficult to know where to turn. Perhaps you’ve got a niggling suspicion that your employee is malingering after extended healing time, or maybe you’re worried that the claim set to push up your premium is based on an injury that was exaggerated or even faked. While workers’ compensation fraud is definitely not the norm, it does happen. In fact, it is estimated that this kind of fraud costs American businesses a shocking $1 billion a year.
The laws that protect your team members’ rights to compensation should not be taken lightly—you can’t just go throwing unproven accusations around without expecting unpleasant legal repercussions. Setting your own HR department the task of looking into the matter might lead to spiraling accusations of bias, but you can hire an appropriately skilled corporate investigations firm to conduct a discreet but effective workers’ compensation investigation on your behalf.
Yes, a licensed corporate investigator will be able to legally and diligently draw from a toolkit that includes evidence gathering, background checks, online and in-person surveillance, and interviewing witnesses in order to strategically draw the facts together. If all is as it should be, then you can sit back and relax with new-found peace of mind. However, if deception is occurring, you will be able to take action that is robustly backed up by infallible evidence.
When an Insurance Company Questions a Workers’ Compensation Claim
If a claim isn’t legitimate, it makes sense that the insurance company in question isn’t going to be keen to loosen the purse strings. Remember, they are out to make a profit, so there’s no point expecting them to operate purely on the basis of compassion. For a company stuck in the middle of such a quandary, however, this can be a real problem. The absence of the employee who made the claim can leave a big hole in your operational budget, and the process of ironing things out can become a headache that just won’t quit.
These factors may be motivation enough to hire a third-party expert to carry out a workers’ compensation investigation of your own to back up the claim—particularly if the employee in question is a valued and essential asset. On the other hand, the claimant themselves may be keen to demonstrate the validity of their claim. Being accused of workers’ insurance claim is no walk in the park, and getting ahead of potential legal action brought against you can keep the situation from escalating. Whichever the case may be, the gathering of air-tight evidence by an impartial corporate investigator is the best way to eliminate question marks once and for all. The task of undertaking a workers’ compensation investigation is a commonplace specialty for the highly experienced corporate investigators from Lauth Investigations International. We turn a deft and seasoned hand to illuminating the facts, leveraging access to the restricted databases used by law enforcement agencies and high-tech surveillance equipment to place truth under the spotlight. If you require assistance in navigating a workers’ compensation claim that has become complicated, we are ready to assist. Contact our team today to learn more.
Planning a big construction project is an exciting proposition indeed. Whether you’re getting ready to take the plunge on a profitable enterprise or envisioning the edifice from which your future ambitions will emerge, a world of possibility lies before you. However, before you leap, this is the moment to take a precautionary pause. The importance of construction due diligence cannot be overlooked. From vetting the site and the construction company, to confirming the budget and meeting compliance obligations, every aspect has to be on point if the project is going to succeed.
The devil is in the detail—or to draw on a more industry-appropriate metaphor, now is the time to measure twice, and cut once. You need the right collaborator to ensure that no stone is unturned during this vital first stage of construction due diligence, and the ideal partner can be found for this endeavor in a specialist investigator from Lauth Investigations International. Read on to discover why a member of our team is the ally you need to ensure that construction operations move forwards without a hitch.
What is Due Diligence in Construction?
In a sense, we conduct due diligence in different areas of our life everyday—or sometimes suffer the consequences of failing to do so. In essence, th term means investigating ahead of an action to ensure that it represents the right course forwards. When we talk about construction due diligence specifically, we are using a term that reflects caution ahead of contractual agreements, purchases, and meeting obligations. If the substantial budget of a construction operation represents your chips on the table, you’re not going to want to gamble. Simply put, construction due diligence is how you ensure that you don’t place your faith in cowboys or commit to an unwise investment. Vitally, it’s about making sure that you get the best build for your budget.
A Spectrum of Construction Due Diligence
When getting your ducks in a row for a construction project, more often than not, the very first one to step into line will be your dream construction site. At this stage, diligence means making sure that all is as it appears, from surveys to guarantees, and from legal searches to transferring planning applications. A mistake at this juncture could mean that a major problem derails the construction project mid-flow, setting your project timeline back immeasurably, or forcing you to pay contractors who have nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs. With this in mind, every minute detail of your site’s credentials is worth a second glance.
Once your site has got the green light, it’s time for the most substantial decision of the entire process—and one that relies heavily upon meticulous construction due diligence. It’s time to cast your net for RFPs from the best and brightest construction companies around. If you’ve got your finger on the pulse, one of your most pressing concerns will be avoiding exorbitant costs. As the lingering economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to mesh with an international energy crisis, you need a construction company that can deliver upon a detailed and stringent budgetary proposal—not only in the sense of material costings, but in smart hiring and labor management too. You’ll also want to be sure that the winning bid is backed up by the appropriate licensure, certifications, and insurance. One final aspect of construction due diligence that is often overlooked at the bidding stage is the importance of company culture. The health of the culture within any construction company will dictate whether their team are dedicated and trustworthy, or likely to use your project as an opportunity to commit fraud. It is a reliable barometer for whether a company will act as a cohesive whole, or stumble through the unexpected. As established experts on not only assessing company culture but strategically correcting it, corporate investigators from Lauth Investigations International are primely positioned to evaluate this factor alongside the many others that fall under construction due diligence. When it comes to realizing your vision, the simple act of working with an industry-seasoned investigator before the race begins will help you mitigate the risk of hurdles ahead. Reach out to our team for a no-obligation consultation, and advice on how we can best meet your needs.
In every single industry—and on worksites across America—the everyday efforts, creativity, and innovation of entire teams have to stay within the lines of a certain rule book. External laws and regulations, internal policies and procedures, and an overarching Code of Conduct is something that every employee is subject to, and straying can have serious consequences. If these words echo as eerily familiar due to current circumstances, then this article is for you. Preparing for a worksite compliance investigation can make the ground beneath your feet feel unstable, but knowing what to expect, and crucially, what actions to take next will help you reclaim firm footing.
Getting Ahead of a Worksite Compliance Investigation
Compliance investigations come in several different forms, depending upon what triggers them, and the industry in question. If a non-compliance complaint lands on your own desk, you may need to quickly mount an internal compliance investigation alongside considering whether you need to report the incident to any external party or authority. If the complaint was made externally—by your client or any other party—then you may receive notice that you’re going to be subject to an external compliance investigation.
If the latter is the case, you might feel tempted to have a Chicken Little moment. But take heart, because the sky is not falling in just yet. The only course of action is to get ahead of the issue, and take strategic action fast. However, this needs to be well thought out, because in certain cases, the consequences of non-compliance can be severe. Launching an internal investigation when you’re already under the microscope can draw an accusation of bias, which may undermine honest actions, casting them as an attempt to protect yourself against justified liability.
The best possible collaborator at this time is an external and impartial third-party investigator who can help you get the lay of the land, uncover the facts, gather and compile evidence, and aid you ahead of any possible fall out. Not only will a skilled corporate investigator be able to adeptly draw the puzzle pieces together ahead of a formal compliance investigation, but they’ll be able to coordinate with your legal council, and even provide witness testimony should the need arise.
If your compliance investigation remains internal in nature, then don’t write off the third-party investigator’s skill set here either. That hot potato of a word—bias—can mean all sorts of legal trouble if a complaint is serious enough, and being able to demonstrate that your investigation and findings are flawlessly impartial can be a reward that only reveals its true value a little further down the road.
The Complexities of a Compliance Investigation
While some forms of worksite investigation can be handled internally—by your HR team or even by leadership—others are complex enough to warrant seeking expert guidance. Failures of compliance can mean worrying legal ramifications for companies large and small. As such, a properly trained investigator is ideally poised to ensure that what follows will be cost effective, thorough, and free from costly mistakes.
Whether you are the one who will act upon the findings of your investigator, or whether you’ll be able to hand that meticulously documented file to an authority figure, having confidence that your own compliance investigation was by the book can be invaluable. Calling on the assistance of an impartial corporate investigator from Lauth Investigations International allows total peace of mind that all evidence has been gathered, documentation has been correctly and chronologically compiled, confidences honored, interviews conducted with the proper technique, and no legal missteps made. So, take the sting out of the tail of your impending worksite compliance investigation with our industry-tailored services. The Lauth Investigations team are ready and waiting to answer your questions, so reach out for a no-obligation consultation today.
