Press Releases
Confirmation Uncovers $200 Million Peregrine Financial Group Fraud
23 Jul 2012 - 3 minutes read
Reguladora de futuros de commodities passa a exigir o uso do serviço para todas as corretoras reguladas
NASHVILLE, TN – July 23, 2012 – Within 24 hours of a regulatory mandate to use electronic audit-confirmation service Confirmation, PFGBest, a commodity brokerage unit of Peregrine Financial Group, Inc., was exposed as a multi-year $215 million fraud.
"PFGBest is a sadly common example of how easily bank and account information can be falsified to evade detection of accounting frauds," said Brian Fox, founder and president of Confirmation. "CEO Russell Wasendorf resisted using our service for months, presumably because he knew that as soon as electronic confirmation went into effect, he would be exposed. Já vimos esse padrão várias vezes desde o lançamento do serviço em 2000. A resistência ao nosso sistema é uma bandeira vermelha indicando fraude."
Nesse caso, milhares de investidores em futuros de commodities tiveram suas contas congeladas enquanto os reguladores tentavam identificar a localização real dos fundos.
Press reports indicate that the NFA is moving to mandate use of Confirmation by all of their regulated brokerages.
"This is a textbook case of how easy it is to use false mailing addresses and fax machines to conceal massive theft and fraud," Fox added, referring to the way Wasendorf faxed forged confirmation documents and provided auditors with what they presumed was a bank's address but has now been reported as being controlled by Wasendorf to avoid detection. "O uso universal do nosso sistema impedirá fraudes desta escala no futuro."
Auditors and financial institutions in more than 160 countries use Confirmation to help avoid the growing global propensity for fraud and the magnitude of those frauds. Ao verificar a autenticidade de cada usuário, a solução baseada na nuvem da empresa não apenas melhora a qualidade das auditorias, mas também traz maior confiança do investidor nas demonstrações financeiras.
"This event, while tragic for its victims, is a tremendous validation of our service and an indictment on the outdated paper confirmation process," said Chris Schellhorn, CEO of Confirmation. "Numerosas empresas e instituições financeiras já nos chamaram para adotar nosso sistema e assegurar a seus investidores e clientes que suas contas são seguras e transparentes."
Schellhorn and Fox added that they have seen a significant surge in business inquiries, which happened concurrently with a planned expansion of the service to overseas markets including Turkey, Australia, and South Africa.
About Confirmation
Confirmation is the digital platform and global network trusted by audit firms, banks, law firms, and credit managers to quickly and securely verify financial data. As the inventor of electronic confirmations in 2000, we reshaped and modernized the audit confirmation process. Today, Confirmation helps nearly a million clients across 160 countries confirm more than $1 trillion in financial data every year. Learn more at Confirmation.com.