Day in the Life: Alex Plavsic, head of fraud investigation services
06.00 I'm woken up, often rather rudely. - I've got two young sons who are my alarm clock. After I've prised myself from bed, I trundle downstairs with them and we all have breakfast. If I get the chance, I might watch the early morning news, or perhaps even browse the business pages of the Telegraph. But this is rarely possible: the kids are usually all over me.
07.30 I've leave the house and head from Chiswick Park tube station to the KPMG office near Blackfriars.
08.00 Today my work begins early with a briefing session for journalists about forensic and fraud matters. Journalists are not always aware of the arcane nature of forensic accounting, so we talk them through the nature of fraud and financial misstatements.
9.45 After elaborating upon the world of fraud investigation services for the national press, I head back to the office to check my emails and voicemail.
10.30 I begin interviewing a suspect regarding an alleged theft of assets. The suspect is thought to have transferred funds from her employer's account into her own.
Most of the work takes place prior to the interview. The hardest part is amassing all the evidence in advance, so I am well prepared for dealing with any possible defences raised by the suspect.
The interview itself is largely down to technique. Firstly, you need to build a relationship with the person you are interviewing; you need to get them to talk. I start by asking general questions, and then in a funnel effect, I move onto the more specific areas.
There are two ideal outcomes to this kind of interview: either the interviewee confesses, or they are unable to provide a reasonable answer that contradicts the evidence. In this instance, it is the latter. I have some fairly comprehensive evidence showing that the suspect's name and password were used to access the employer's account, and they are at a loss to explain why. It was clear that she had stolen the funds.
11.45 I call the client and brief them on the outcome of the interview.
12.45 Lunch is spent with a litigation solicitor I've worked with several times. It's a pleasant experience, in which we both encourage each other to pass on new leads.
14.00 I finish lunch and head back to the office to undertake part of the annual appraisal of other staff in the unit. The interesting bit is talking to staff about their performance. The less interesting bit is filling in the forms, which is what I'm doing this afternoon.
15.15 - I meet with a colleague to run through a proposal we're making at 4pm to a global banking group. Banks are more and more interested in this area. The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) is taking a tougher stance on fraud risk. We are proposing to help the bank improve the way they manage fraud, as well as deterring fraudsters from attacking the bank.
16.00 The meeting goes well. We present the proposal, which is three pronged. We argue that: the bank needs to employ staff with a high degree of integrity and to filter out anyone with a previous criminal record; that it needs to understand the nature of the fraud risk facing it, such as traders concealing their losses, for example; and that it needs to ensure there is an effective whistleblowing procedure. - 40-50% of fraud cases are brought into the open thanks to whistleblowers.
We found out the next day that we had been awarded the contract.
18.30 I head back to the office and picked up final messages and letters
19.30 I hop on the tube and head to the gym.
21.00 By the time I get home, the children are in bed and my wife and I have supper together. I get to sleep at 11pm. - I need to be refreshed before I'm roused again tomorrow morning.
