Forensic Auditing

Although our service offering is titled forensic auditing the fact of the matter is that a forensic investigation by its very nature does not constitute an audit and therefore the correct terminology is in fact a forensic investigation or then the practice of forensic accounting.

During the period of 2006 to 2010 Jaco Hamman worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers as a manager in the forensic division. His responsibilities consisted of South African Reserve Bank inspections, the investigation of fraud and corruption at public entities and private sector enterprises, payments to creditors and related parties, fraudulent expense claims, fraudulent invoices paid to employees, fraudulent debtors’ write-offs and fraudulent overtime charges. The majority of these investigations required an in-depth knowledge of Public Law and Labour Law.

The powers provided to inspectors in terms of the provisions of the Inspection of Financial Institutions Act, 80 of 1998 are also used by the South African Reserve Bank and the Council for Medical Schemes.

We have obtained more than 40 different search warrants in terms of the provisions of section 5 of the Inspection of Financial Institutions Act and have provided the South African Reserve Bank and the Council for Medical Schemes with legal opinions on numerous occasions.

Our appointments by the South African Reserve Bank focused mainly on investigating collective investment schemes. We inter alia assisted the South African Reserve Bank with matters such as Sharemax, Realcor, PIC, etc.

Hahn and Hahn has a high level of expertise with regard to compliance with the Banks Act and have overseen several matters for investment institutions. As a preferred service provider for the NCR for over 8 years, we have provided opinions pertaining to the effect of a NCT ruling as well as interpretation of certain provisions of the National Credit Act as well as handled complaints in terms of the National Credit Act on behalf of the NCT.

We have the combination off all the skills that are needed to effectively investigate fraud and corruption and to assist our clients to manage their risks. We are a team of professional people who conduct forensic investigations of the highest quality.

Being a law firm our clients have the advantage of legal privilege. Our unique blend of skills and expertise enables us to provide services to a wide range of clients. We are a multi-disciplined team which includes amongst others, forensic accountants, chartered accountants, admitted attorneys and investigators.

Our team members are respectively accredited by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the Institute of Commercial Forensic Practitioners (ICFP), the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and/or the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA).

Our experience includes:

• Investigations and analysis relating to fraudulent and or corrupt activities;
• Procurement Fraud and Theft;
• Conflict of interest verifications of suppliers and employees;
• Internal and external investigations on staff members in dishonesty-related matters and fraudulent activity;
• Fraudulent contract applications, both single and syndicate-related applications, sabotage of computer systems, dealer fraud, etc;
• Profiling fraud syndicates and identifying linked accounts, patterns/trends and techniques to provide information that will enhance fraud prevention capabilities;
• Forensic Accounting;
• Lifestyle Audits;
• Disciplinary Procedural Support;
• Vetting and Asset Tracing;
• Business intelligence on entities and individuals;
• Data Analysis;
• Investigations of labour-related misconduct and internal disciplinary enquiries;
• Expert testimony in criminal and civil trials as well as disciplinary enquiries;
• Performing fraud risk assessments;

As part of our investigation methodology, we use Analyst Notebook which allows us to quickly and effectively turn large volumes of data into actionable intelligence with powerful and rich analysis capabilities.