Reardon Anderson - July 2021

Reardon Anderson - July 2021

ReardonAnderson C O U N S E L O R S A T L A W

ReardonAnderson.com

July 2021

WHY 'FRAUD' ENCOMPASSES MORE THAN YOU THINK

INTERNAL FRAUD

In the movies, you will often see a businessperson talk about their operation, and another character staring in disbelief who says or thinks, "That's just fraud." But what is fraud, exactly? Black’s Law Dictionary defines fraud as, “A knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment.” Sounds broad, doesn’t it? It is. To narrow it down, though, there are three main types of fraud. Anyone can commit fraud, whether that’s an employee, manager, officer, the owner of the company, or even an external customer. You can learn to recognize signs of fraud by understanding the definition and various scenarios where fraud is often committed. In looking to continually serve our clients, Reardon Anderson is gauging client interest in monthly webinars to explain issues impacting individuals and businesses in 2021 and beyond. If you think this would be an added value, please let us know your thoughts by emailing Info@ ReardonAnderson.com . Thank you so much for your support!

Also known as “occupational fraud,” internal fraud can be defined as “the use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the organization’s resources or assets.” This type of fraud occurs when an employee, manager, or executive commits fraud against their employer. There are so many ways of committing internal fraud that the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners has created an Occupational Fraud and Abuse Classification System with over 50 types of occupational fraud crimes listed. Internal fraud includes purchasing schemes (such as pay-and-return schemes, where an employee arranges for overpayment of a vendor invoice and pockets the overpaid amount), bribery, falsified wages, false refunds, fictitious revenues, unrecorded sales, larceny, ghost employees, improper asset valuations, and much more. The best way to identify internal fraud in your business is to keep diligent records and never be afraid to ask questions to clarify gray areas. As you can see, there are many ways to be dishonest in business — it’s not paranoid to be safe. EXTERNAL FRAUD Fraud doesn’t solely include cheating out your business or individuals within it. If someone is a dishonest vendor, they

might bill other companies for goods or services not provided. Also, dishonest customers could submit bad checks or falsify information for payment. They could also try to return stolen or knock-off products for a refund. Many organizations that struggle with threats of security or theft of intellectual property are often victims of external fraud. FRAUD AGAINST INDIVIDUALS You don’t need a company of your own to commit fraud. Very common forms of fraud occur without any organization at all. For example, identity theft, Ponzi schemes, phishing schemes, and advance-fee frauds

have been used to steal money from unsuspecting victims for decades.

If you believe you are the victim of fraud, it’s extremely important to get an attorney right away. Your legal counsel can advise you on proper steps to take for your situation, while potentially gathering the right information to prove your case. Best of all, you can do this before anyone catches on. For all your fraud lawsuit concerns, give our office a call to get one of New Jersey’s top, seasoned business legal firms on your side.

–The Reardon Anderson Firm

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DEFENDING THE DEADLIEST JOB IN AMERICA

Poor Safety Meets Molten Enamel Nothing Cold About

These Refrigerators Fourth of July Special —

Fun Facts About the Secret Service

If you don’t know what enamel is, you’ve probably seen it around: It’s the colorful, protective coating that covers tiles and all kinds of fancy cookware. But how does it get on to things? For that, you need heat — enough to melt enamel into a workable, molten-hot liquid. It’s dangerous stuff to work with, which means facilities need to provide extensive training, personal protective equipment, and proper maintenance.

Did you know four presidents of the United States of America have been assassinated while in office? It’s an ironic twist of fate that President Lincoln signed the law creating the Secret Service on the day of his assassination.

The Grand Rapids Refrigerator Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, had not met its duty in any of those three areas when Harry Adams, an employee, was working for them in the early 1900s. The company used enamel to line the inside of its refrigerators in a process that involved introducing molten enamel to water, a hardening reaction that had a high potential for disaster. And disaster struck in November 1906 when, in the course of Adams’ normal duties, the holding tank full of molten enamel exploded while he operated it at close distance — at the instruction of his foreman who was overseeing the operation. It’s a miracle that Adams wasn’t killed, although he lived in severe pain for the rest of his life. His employer attempted to dodge all responsibility, and Adams was forced into the courts to get justice. As you can imagine, the judicial

However, back then, they wouldn’t have been able to prevent the

tragic event from occurring. Originally, the Secret Service was created to identify

counterfeit money instead of protecting our presidents. In honor of the Fourth of July, let's dive into the fascinating history of the Secret Service and how they protect those in power. THE SERIOUS PROBLEM OF COUNTERFEIT MONEY Counterfeit money might seem like a relatively small concern compared to protecting the U.S. presidents and their families. However, in the final days of the American Civil War, it was estimated that nearly half of circulating U.S. currency was fake. Imagine half of your family’s money being counterfeit, especially after a civil war. It was a huge threat to the economy. The Department of Treasury established the Secret Service in 1865 to not only prevent fraudulent banknotes but also police other federal crimes like bootlegging, mail theft, and smuggling. Many of these responsibilities passed on to the FBI when it was established in 1908, but white-collar crimes in the financial and banking sector, including cybercrime, remain in the Secret Service’s purview. PROTECTING THE PRESIDENTS — AND THE BIGGEST NATIONAL EVENTS Following the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley, Secret Service agents were assigned as security detail to presidents full time. Then, after presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed in 1968, agents began protecting presidential and vice presidential candidates as well. Today, all presidents and their immediate families, as well as major presidential and vice presidential candidates within 120 days of a general election, receive protection from the Secret Service. There are even occasions such as massive public gatherings (the Super Bowl) or major political events (party conventions or the inauguration) that may be designated National Special Security Events, and the Secret Service will secure the event and the surrounding airspace. While enjoying your Fourth of July celebration, feel free to pass around these awesome facts about one of America’s coolest government operations.

system took note of the incident and, after examining everything in detail, came to some groundbreaking conclusions, at least for the day.

The chief one was that Adams’ injury could not have been foreseen by an average person, because although he had experience, he lacked understanding of the materials he was working with — an understanding that his employer had not provided. Molten enamel has similar properties to lava, and an exploding tank full of the stuff is not a hazard anyone should have to deal with in the workplace. The shockwaves of Adams’ near-fatal injury have reverberated for over a century now and provide valuable precedence when it comes to the duty employers have to their employees, whether that person has experience or not, which is why even today, when we attend ongoing, yearly safety training, we benefit from the hard lessons learned in Adams v. Grand Rapids Refrigerator .

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WHY AMERICA’S FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS VERY UNIQUE

Adopted in 1948, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” However, this declaration is not actually legally binding. Even in today’s modern era, the American First Amendment remains one of the world’s most extraordinarily unique laws. In China — a country with a longstanding history of media censorship — the freedom of speech laws are intentionally vague to allow a little more legal flexibility when persecuting offenders, such as: “No unit or individual may use the Internet to create, replicate, retrieve, or transmit the following kinds of information: … inciting division of the country, harming national unification.” Similarly, in India, their constitution says that citizens have the “freedom of speech and expression,” or they can “peacefully assemble without arms,” but “these rights are limited as not to affect: the integrity of India … public order, decency and morality, contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to an offense.”

There are some of our contemporaries in Europe who would disagree with America's approach to free speech. In Western Europe, hate speech is criminalized and banned, and the “right to be forgotten” (or ability to have your personal information removed from the Internet) is allowed. The U.S. does not have hate speech laws because the Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution prohibits any government interference in regards to freedom of speech. For example, compare the First Amendment to the quotes above: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble , and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Although Americans know our country is the “land of the free, home of the brave,” not many people know how much freedom we have in comparison to other countries. We hope this article was interesting for you, and feel free to let us know if you’d like us to cover more constitutional amendments!

EASY ZUCCHINI ENCHILADAS

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/3 cups red enchilada sauce, divided 4 large zucchini, sliced very thin lengthwise and dried 2 cups shredded cheese Sour cream and cilantro, for garnish

• • • • • • •

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1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

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2 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

Salt, to taste

• •

3 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring for 5 minutes. 2. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, and salt. Cook for 1 minute, then add chicken and 1 cup enchilada sauce. Stir to combine. 3. On a cutting board, lay out three slices of zucchini side by side. Top each with a scoop of chicken mixture, then roll into a tube. Repeat with remaining zucchini slices. 4. Add the rolls to a baking dish. 5. Top the rolls with the remaining enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with garnishes!

Inspired by Delish.com

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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Why 'Fraud' Encompasses More Than You Think Poor Safety Meets Molten Enamel Defending the Deadliest Job in America? Why America’s Freedom of Speech Is Very Unique Easy Zucchini Enchiladas Avoid These Ingredients in Your Cooking!

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AVOID THESE INGREDIENTS IN YOUR COOKING!

There are several foods in just about every supermarket that aren’t what they seem. These are foods that may appear perfectly fine at a glance, but they are actually a waste of time, money, and pantry space. Here are three of those foods and their better alternatives! BEEF BROTH When you buy beef broth, you buy it with the expectation that it is, in fact, beef-based. However, many products that call themselves “beef broth” are actually yeast -based. All of their flavor comes from yeast and various spices, not beef, thanks to lax U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations on beef broth. The product may have just enough actual beef broth for it to be on the ingredient list and label. The next time you need beef broth for a recipe, replace it with the same amount of chicken or vegetable broth, both of which have more stringent USDA regulations. COOKING WINE This is one of the biggest scams in the culinary world. First, most products called “cooking wine” on their label are low-quality wines. Second, many manufacturers add salt to cooking wine. If you

encounter a recipe that calls for cooking wine, in general, stick to regular wine that you would serve on its own. Use white wine for lighter-in-color dishes, such as risotto, and red wine for dark, richer dishes, including sauces and gravies. GROUND BLACK PEPPER Many spices can actually fall under this category, but ground black pepper tends to be the most popular — and the most problematic. When spices, like pepper, are ground, they come into contact with air and begin to oxidize and lose flavor. Ground spices stored in sealed containers in a cool, dry place will lose flavor slowly, but ground pepper tends to be left out, which means it loses flavor faster. Instead, invest in a pepper mill and fill it with whole peppercorns. The flavor difference in your dishes will be noticeable!

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