Cerebra proved the conflict of interest and bribery schemes between the sales manager and a business partner

SITUATION 

A multinational company with production facilities and sales offices across several continents contacted us through a Turkish law firm they collaborate with, to investigate suspicions about a sales manager working at their Turkish office. The suspicion was a possible hidden relationship between the sales manager and one of the company’s customers. 

OUR SOLUTION 

In coordination with the company’s internal audit team and the law firm in Turkey, we initially conducted a covert investigation into the suspicions. First, we obtained the sales data. We re-performed the analyses of the internal audit team to identify any concentration in sales, low-priced sales made to the suspected customer or other suspicious matters. 

We found that certain products were sold at low prices to the suspicious customer and that there was an increasing concentration of sales to this customer over the past few years.  

a) Digital data examination 

In the next phase of the investigation, our team, consisting of a fraud examination specialist and two forensic IT experts, visited the company’s Istanbul office in cooperation with the law firm. Our forensic experts copied data from the sales manager’s computer and mobile phone using forensic methods necessary for evidence admissibility. After obtaining copies of the sales manager’s email messages, we uploaded the data into our e-discovery tool, which allowed us to index the data and search for predefined keywords. We then conducted a forensic examination using the e-discovery tool on the suspect’s hard drive and mobile phone. 

b) Mobile phone examination 

Having frequently found concrete evidence on mobile phone copies in previous investigations, we began by examining the data collected from the suspect’s phone. 

The copy of the sales manager’s mobile phone contained numerous WhatsApp messages with various individuals, including owners/employees of different customers. We focused on messages between the sales manager and the owner and employees of the suspicious company. These messages clearly revealed the covert agreement between the sales manager and the customer’s owner. 

Initially, we discovered that the sales manager acted as if he was a shareholder of the suspicious customer, being involved in the sales process, including pricing. We determined that the suspicious customer was purchasing the company’s products at low prices and then reselling them to other customers in the Turkish market at higher prices, making an illicit profit. 

More importantly, we found that the sales manager had sent several times one of his friends to the city where the suspicious customer operated. Email messages revealed that this person received thousands of USD and EUR in cash from the customer’s owner or employees and handed this money to the sales manager. We also found messages showing that they were careful not to leave evidence by transferring money through banks. 

C) Email messages and hard disk examination 

Based on the examination of the sales manager’s hard disk copy and email messages, and interviews with company executives, we concluded that the sales manager exploited weaknesses in the pricing controls to facilitate low-priced sales to the suspicious customer. The customer then resold the products to other customers in the Turkish market at higher prices for a profit. 

Additionally, we determined that the sales manager provided misleading justifications to the headquarters management to legitimize the low-priced sales to the suspicious customer. 

We estimated the company’s loss due to the fraud to be around EUR 3 million. 

OUR IMPACT 

Based on the evidence we uncovered during the investigation, the company terminated the sales manager’s employment without severance pay.  

Using the concrete evidence we provided, the company negotiated a settlement with the suspicious customer through a series of meetings.