F raud Business Solutions is an Irish registered company whose operation and objectives are to provide a suite of advisory and investigatory related products specifically aimed at 1) diminishing the threat of internal theft/fraud 2) assisting the effectiveness of a company’s fraud strategy approach, which will, in turn, 3) assist in the strategic development and protect the assets of that company. The current product offering ranges from general consultancy/ contractual work to one-on-one or multiple training seminars/events.
The founder and sole owner of Fraud Business Solutions, which commenced trading in 2017, is Michael Fitzgerald. The owner has 30 years’ banking experience, the last 20 years of which has concentrated on fraud management roles within various institutions in the financial sector in both the UK and Ireland.
Work experience relating to fraud has ranged from investigative work, including investigating complex multi-million-pound cases, to implementing fraud strategies for multinational banks. The owner is qualified with a Masters in Fraud Management and is currently the only individual in Ireland to hold this qualification. The owner is also a Certified Fraud Examiner.
The specific professional values, skills, knowledge, and fundamentally fraud-related work experiences make Fraud Business Solutions a worthwhile and legitimate company to partner with.
The threat of internal fraud is a real risk to the solvency and profits of any company. Fraud Business Solutions observes that this danger is an ongoing one that cannot be effectively managed by untrained individuals within a company; he role/aim of Fraud Business Solutions is to be that specialised resource and protect a company’s name and profits.
I joined AIB in 2014 and managed their Special Investigations Unit, providing direct leadership and assigned responsibility for the integration of internal investigation methodology for a team of investigators covering AIB Group. As part of this role I managed and prioritised a number of highly complex investigation case assignments; ensuring appropriate resource was applied and case development strategies and progress was adhered to and maintained.
Development of the unit was a key importance to me and as such, we improved the analytic use of data, through systems such as Hyperion and SAS, which assisted in pre-and post-case investigation methods.
In addition to the investigation work, I maintained the unit’s strategy and business plan. Part of this plan was providing group wide training and ongoing education to, senior management and subordinates to raise awareness of unit’s activity. Encouragement to change within the unit in line with the industry, legal and regulatory changes.
Created and maintained an ongoing set of reports and dashboard performance metrics to inform both internal and external stakeholders (including the Board, Senior Leadership, clients and appropriate regulatory and law enforcement agencies) of investigation activities and results.
I spent just under 10 years with Danske Bank (formerly National Irish Bank) where I was responsible for investigating and managing cases of customer related fraud, specific to their banking products such as credit /debit card, mortgage and identity fraud (corporate & retail customers). There were instances where I would package and provided cases to the Gardaí for prosecution, part of which would see the need to provide witness statements to the Gardaí on behalf of the Group. The result of this work meant that I represented Danske in court as an expert witness.
Again, a key focus was assessing weaknesses in controls that may allow instances of fraud by leading risk awareness and training workshops and for all areas of the business.
Prior to the above role, I also had the overall responsibility for project management, implementation, and development of internal fraud strategies, procedures, and processes for the Group. Added to this I provided consultancy for internal fraud management issues for other areas of the Group, i.e. Denmark, Northern Ireland and maintained the responsibility for the management of internal fraud investigations specifically for Danske Bank.
during which time consolidated on my experience and expertise.