Confirmation Uncovers $200 Million Peregrine Financial Group Fraud

商品期货监管机构强制要求所有受监管的经纪商使用服务 

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. 自从2000年推出这项服务以来,我们已经屡屡发现这类行为,抵制使用我们的系统成了欺诈行为的警示信号。”

这一次,数千商品期货投资者的账户被冻结,以便监管机构确定资金的实际位置。

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.“普及使用我们系统将遏制日后出现类似规模的欺诈。”

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. 通过验证每个用户的真实性,公司基于云的解决方案不仅提高了审计质量,还让投资者对财务报表有了更大信心。

"This event, while tragic for its victims, is a tremendous validation of our service and an indictment on the outdated paper confirmation process," said Chris Schellhorn, CEO of Confirmation.“许多公司和金融机构已经联系我们,要求纳入我们的系统,好让投资者和客户相信他们的帐户是安全和透明的。”

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. 

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