Marvin Levy, Pioneer in Forensic Accounting, Joins Deloitte & Touche Dispute Consulting Group

Business Wire, May 3, 1999

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 1999--

Formerly With IRS and FBI, Levy Established First Forensic

Accounting Practice in Washington, D.C.

Marvin M. Levy, a pioneer in forensic accounting whose career has included postings with the FBI, the Office of Inspector General of the General Services Administration, and the IRS, has joined Deloitte & Touche's Dispute Consulting Services practice as a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C. office.

Mr. Levy established one of the first dedicated forensic accounting practices in the U.S. after leaving the federal government in 1983 and setting up business in the Washington law firm of Dickstein, Shapiro & Morin. A certified fraud examiner as well as a CPA, Mr. Levy has been called "one of the nation's leading forensic accountants" by the American Institute of CPAs. Among numerous high-profile assignments, Mr. Levy in 1997 was appointed by the Department of Justice and served as Independent Financial Auditor for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and testified before Congress in that capacity.

Mr. Levy, 50, will direct the forensic practice in the Central Atlantic and Southern regions of Deloitte's forensic and investigative services practice. In addition to his forensic work, Mr. Levy works extensively in the area of complex economic damages.

"Forensic and investigative accounting is decidedly the hottest area of our practice nationally. I can't think of anyone better equipped or more respected within the profession than Marvin Levy. He's the ideal person to direct our Eastern Corridor business, which spans the Washington-Virginia-Maryland market, but also Philadelphia and points south," explained Gerard Davies, the Philadelphia-based Deloitte & Touche partner who directs the firm's dispute consulting practice in the region. "Marv has covered the waterfront of forensic work and is an expert in financial fraud, fraud auditing and economic damages -- we are extremely fortunate to have him in our own thriving forensic practice."

Mr. Levy has served as a Special Master for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, as well as an investigator with U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. During his service with the House, Mr. Levy investigated allegations of bribery of members of Congress by a foreign government. As a special agent with Office of Inspector General he conducted complex economic and financial criminal investigations.

Wrote the Book on Forensic Accounting

A seven-time recipient of the AICPA Outstanding Discussion Leader Award, Mr. Levy has also taught on the adjunct graduate faculty of the Forensic Sciences Department at George Washington University. He is the author of Fraud Auditing, the first AICPA continuing education course in fraud and forensic accounting, as well as of McGraw Hill's course books Quantifying Economic Damages and Litigation Support and Forensic Accounting. His August 1985 cover commentary for the Journal of Accountancy, "Financial Fraud; Schemes and Indicia" is regarded by many as a seminal article in the development of fraud detection by CPAs. Selected by the Journal of Accountancy as one of the outstanding articles of that year, it was published in a special volume.

It is estimated that Mr. Levy has trained over 5,000 CPAs in the area of fraud detection and forensic accounting. He is generally acknowledged to be the primary developer of the modern day indirect analytical method known as "triangulation" -- a circumstantial approach that using historic bases indicates the possibility of selected financial findings. He has also testified before the United States Congress, as well as before federal and state courts.

Mr. Levy has long argued that businesses should maintain strong analytic controls and monitoring to keep a lid on internal corruption. In the May issue of Corporate Counsel magazine published by the American Lawyer, Mr. Levy noted that "while the difference between fraud and negligence may be five years, it is a difference that may be hard to discern in the annual audit. The very nature of many fraud schemes makes them less likely to be detected absent an ongoing aggressive program." Elsewhere, Mr. Levy sends a reminder that "frauds are not necessarily detected by their magnitude, but by the indicia or trail that they leave."

Asked to describe the attributes required of a good forensic accountant, Mr. Levy responded with what could serve as a motto for the practice:

"The forensic accountant often deals with complex business and financial data that may be incomplete, or misleading. He lives in the world of evasive acts by those covering their trail, and sometimes the hypothetical. He must be keenly analytical and capable of getting to point C from point A, absent point B. He must also be creative, and able to pick out the loose threads in what may appear a seamless web of falsified financial records. A forensic accountant must understand the levels of proof needed to support his findings, and have the ability to teach them to a judge or jury in a clear, concise and credible manner. Without the proper mindset or instincts, all the training in the world won't make a true forensic accountant."