Fraud Investigator in demand paid USD 275 per hour

AS the financial crisis has continued to unfold of late 2008 , new suspicions of fraud have been emerging — and with them a need to find whether there is evidence of wrongdoing. That’s why the demand for fraud investigators is rising.

Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that the number of open mortgage-fraud investigations was more than 1,600 at the end of fiscal 2008, which ended Sept. 30, compared with 881 two years earlier. In addition, 530 corporate-fraud investigations were open, it said.

The bureau is recruiting people to help with these investigations, including those with experience in computer science and accounting. People who speak a foreign language and those who are certified fraud examiners also have an advantage. Certification is a credential offered by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners that notes proficiency and experience in fraud prevention, detection and deterrence.

Outside the government, fraud investigators work for security consulting firms like Kroll; at accounting firms like Deloitte Touche and Eisner; and at global business consulting and internal audit firms like Protiviti. Some hang out their own shingle. These firms may be retained by lawyers or by companies pursuing an internal investigation.

The number of certified examiners is up 10 percent compared with last year, according to the association, a trade group based in Austin, Tex. Median compensation for full-time certified fraud examiners in 2008 was just over $90,000 a year, the association says.

Corporate fraud investigators say the work requires curiosity and tenacity. And they warn that it can be time-consuming and even tedious. Because they are retained on the recommendation of corporate or outside counsel, they are bound by lawyer-client privilege and do not have a say in whether to prosecute a crime. Still, they say, their efforts can be rewarding.

A hero of the breed recently emerged in the form of Harry Markopolos, who repeatedly warned the Securities and Exchange Commission that Bernard L. Madoff was running a giant Ponzi scheme at the expense of investors. Mr. Markopolos, who was working for an investment company when he started looking into Mr. Madoff’s activities, left in 2004 to start his own investigation firm.

Although the S.E.C. did not act on Mr. Markopolos’s warnings, he has helped ease the way for investigators in his wake who may suspect various “mini-Madoff” scandals and other types of fraud.

While many investigators have backgrounds in forensic accounting, internal audit and law enforcement, experts say the field also draws finance executives, paralegals, librarians and former journalists. “What you need is an uncanny ability to get people to talk,” said Jules Kroll, the recently retired founder of the firm that bears his name.

The need to investigate fraud these days is so great that temporary workers including lawyers, private investigators and certified fraud examiners are paid $150 to $275 an hour.