Case Study: Trace The Money

“[ScanWriter] is really helpful for us to trace the money… especially the money going out.”

J.R, CPA, CFE
Analyst Supervisor
Office of the Attorney General

Challenge​

With an estimated 664 cases in 2015 and 8 offices spread across the state, analysts like J.R. (Analyst Supervisor) from the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) spent much of their day reviewing data for proof of Medicaid fraud, money laundering, and occasional racketeering.

Solution

ScanWriter for Excel

Results

A Forward-Thinking Analyst Protects Taxpayer Money using the Industry Leading Data Capture & Analytic Technology

Challenge

With an estimated 664 cases in 2015 and 8 offices spread across the state, analysts like J.R. (Analyst Supervisor) from the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) spent much of their day reviewing data for proof of Medicaid fraud, money laundering, and occasional racketeering.

After four years of working for the agency, J.R. remembered the case that prompted her to search for a solution to Excel data entry. Her assignment alleged that a provider laundered money using Medicaid funds.

The audit involved five years’ worth of statements with an estimated three to four pages per month. This would require J.R to manually handkey about 5000 transactions, which she estimated would have taken her over six weeks to complete. To analyze the data, she needed to record each transaction’s date, amount, check number, and description then double-check for accuracy.

As an experienced Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner, J.R. explained, “The taxpayers pay my salary… I want to use my true talents instead of spending all my time doing clerical data entry.”

This prompted J.R. to search for a solution. She touted, “This is the electronic age; there has to be something that can help us get the data in faster.” After much research of other products, such as Cogniview and Money Thumb, J.R. recommended to her Chief Auditor that they purchase ScanWriter.

Solution

MFCU procured eight licenses of ScanWriter for Excel, one for each office location. The auditors and occasionally the analysts used the software to collect and gather data for their assigned cases.

ScanWriter offers advanced features to capture data from any PDF and includes the option for custom enhancements, which ensure that data is captured accurately. The agency selected ScanWriter because it supports over 10,000 financial institutions – with more added every day.

Moreover, the team did not have to program ScanWriter about what to capture. Even if each page of the statements had a different format, ScanWriter could still capture the data off each one.

Additionally, the solution’s output creates an organized Excel spreadsheet with dates, descriptions, business names, amounts, balances, and more in distinct columns. Users need not spend their time reformatting data.

Once ScanWriter processes a statement, users can confirm the data’s accuracy with one or all three accuracy verification features. This streamlines preparation and gives the auditor confidence that the figures match the source documents.

The MFCU used the data from the bank statements to track the money flow and illustrate how the ill-gotten funds landed in the suspect’s bank account. When tracing the funds, J.R. noted, “ScanWriter is a useful tool… it parses out the business name… I know who [the suspects] are paying and where the money is going.” This allows them to possibly file for forfeiture and can lead to an arrest or seizure of funds.

While each case requires a different type of analysis, ScanWriter is a fast and accurate tool for them. J.R. suggested, “Each user should go to more than one training… I encourage them to ask questions. There are so many useful functionalities…”

ScanWriter helped J.R. complete the analysis of five years’ worth of bank statements in a third of the time needed for manual data entry. J.R. added, “[ScanWriter] is really helpful for us to trace the money… especially the money going out.”

Business Benefits

In addition to completing the case faster, ScanWriter gave J.R. a precise look at the money trail. This analysis helped her determine that, in the case mentioned above, no money laundering activity occurred. J.R. stated that this is a ScanWriter benefit because “You want to be sure that all your data is right before you proceed with allegations and you can’t spend all of your time just getting the data.”

ScanWriter allowed the team to focus their resources on other cases where fraud actually occurred. In those instances, the auditors recognized the patterns where criminals obtained money, laundered it through different companies, dispersed the funds, and ultimately deposited the amounts.

Without ScanWriter, these auditors could spend months on a single case. J.R. later explained, “[The case] would have taken so much longer. Having the evidence instantly available allows us to minimize the cost of analyzing any size project.”

ScanWriter changed the way this office processes the financial aspects of cases. As J.R. stated, “It was nice to find a program that did what we needed… spit out an Excel file so we can trace the money and find other bank accounts associated with the case.” The team at MFCU continues to exemplify efficiency and J.R. said, “As stewards of the state, we want to use the taxpayer money in the best way. We hope to continue serving them well.”

“Congratulations to the award-winning agency for their success in fighting fraud, crime, and abuse!”

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