MacLean’s
The New Crime Sleuths

Crime: Forensic accounting is a specialty that related more to the world of crime and punishment than to profit and loss. And it is as different from traditional accounting as a coroner’s role is from that of a family doctor’s. Forensic accounting, a term coined by Lindquist more than a decade ago to define the fledgling specialty, is largely based on the ability to peruse a variety of business documents – – a paper trail – – and discover exactly what happened inside a failed or defrauded company. Now, most major firms offer services in the filed, but Lindquist and his partner, Donald Holmes, remain the top-ranked sleuths in civil and criminal cases of white-collar crime.

Detective-style accountants also take a different approach to their work. Regular auditors usually trust that management is conducting the affairs of a company properly, but a forensic accountant is often in a position in which he suspects the management of fraud. Careers are at stake because the evidence unearthed by a forensic accountant can result in anything from dismissal to criminal charges and prison terms. “Your work is always open to the other side for cross-examination,” Lindquist said. “It has to be perfect or a problem can be created in your evidence and your credibility.”

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Maclean’s
Business Hands in the Till

Declared Robert Lindquist, a partner in a forensic accounting firm, “Opening up about fraud is like talking to your kids about sex; it may be awkward, but it has to be done for the health of everyone.”

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