Question

A whistle-blower in her allegations made in a qui tam suit, alleged that her former employer fired her because she told the company that it was "padding the bills" to the federal government for the cost-plus contract it had to build ejection seats for fighter aircraft. She alleges that the company overcharged for materials, ran up labor costs, threw "all kinds of stuff in overhead," and illegally plugged corporate administrative costs into the contract billings. As the forensic accountant hired by the U.S. Justice Department to litigate this case, answer the following

a. What documents will you seek during discovery to address the whistle-blower's allegations?

b. What will you be looking for in each of the requested documents?

c. What will be the basis/foundation for the opinions you will provide in this case?

d. How will you utilize the whistle blower in pursuing your opinions in this case?

Answer 1

Solution:-

a. What documents will you seek during discovery to address the whistle-blower's allegations:-

You would obtain all of the documents that are direct evidence of the billing, and the supporting documents for the direct evidence. You would also want to conduct a brief analysis of jobs that were similar in size from the past, and obtain the same basic billing information and supporting documents as a means of comparison.

b. What will you be looking for in each of the requested documents:-

In this case, you need to identify where the differences exist in similar jobs, and also between the estimates given for the current job, and the actual charges billed. You can then base your case around the variances that exist, showing that the costs were purposefully elevated.

c. What will be the basis/foundation for the opinions you will provide in this case:-

Your basis will be the current evidence, and on external research. You can also include this in part (a) as well. External research would show that based on the current trends, similar jobs, even if completed by competitors, were reasonably priced and didn't include the extraneous items. If more than one job is used for comparison, either from this company or various companies, it would further prove the case against the company.

d. How will you utilize the whistle blower in pursuing your opinions in this case:-

The whistle-blower is the most important factor in this case.

Your Call strengthens an organisation's whistleblower policy & governance framework

• Effective risk management. ...
• Workplace bullying. ...
• Fraud detection. ...
• Corporate culture. ...
• Good corporate governance. ...
• Company and company officers' protection. ...
• Workplace safety. ...
• Company equipment

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