Question

What would negate a fraud examiner's findings or rule a company out of an investigation from an independence standpoint?

Answer 1

For a company under actual or potential government scrutiny, an independent internal investigation performed byby outside counsel sometimes coupled with the government, can mean the difference between indicment andmuch more patable result. Nevertheless, outside counsel's independence is combined with "no prior work on subject company". Indeed, some companies or Boards refuse categorically to hire outside counsel to perform the internal investigation if the firm has performed previously for the company.