OFFICE OF THE CFO - FTI Consulting

INVESTIGATING WHISTLEBLOWER ALLEGATIONS
Large, Public International Company
FTI Consulting was contacted by the head of compliance of a large, public, international
company and its outside counsel regarding whistleblower allegations relating to accounting
for income taxes in the consolidated financial statements of the company. The timing was
urgent given the rapidly approaching deadline to file the company’s Form 10-K with the SEC.
FTI Consulting immediately assigned a team, highly skilled in accounting for income taxes
and financial reporting, to work with outside counsel and company’s compliance team to
develop an action plan and commence work. Our team participated in interviews, reviewed
critical documents, focused on historical accounting for the issues that were the subject of
the whistleblower allegations, participated in meetings with the independent auditors who
were literally in the final stages of their audit when the allegations surfaced, and assisted
with overall evaluation of the findings and proposed remediation. Within a very short
period of time, an efficient, focused investigation by the team of attorneys, FTI Consulting
representatives and company compliance representatives was completed, resulting in the
timely filing of the Form 10-K.
RECONSTRUCTION OF GOVERNMENTAL ACCOUNTING RECORDS
Governmental Municipality
A governmental municipality identified apparent discrepancies between its cash-on-hand
and the corresponding project-by-project totals in its accounting system, in connection with
active, authorized, capital project funds. FTI Consulting was engaged to identify the relevant
accounting guidelines, test and reconcile the municipality’s cash activity/balances against
the respective resolutions and disbursement records, then consult on the development of a
database that could maintain pertinent project funding, financial status and progress-towardcompletion
information. FTI Consulting assembled and dispatched a team consisting of
CPAs, CFEs, former public and private auditors, data technologists, and professionals who
previously served as controllers and CFOs. Working closely with the municipality’s financial,
legal, and administrative staff, and leveraging the efforts of third-party contract accountants,
FTI Consulting analyzed and directed the reconstruction of the entity’s accounting records
for all active projects over the course of the prior five years, which included the recognition
of bond issuance proceeds, inter-governmental funding, and detailed project accounting–
with our efforts enabling the successful completion of the municipality’s annual audit for the
sixth year of its examination.
10