Confirmation Uncovers $200 Million Peregrine Financial Group Fraud

Aufsichtsstelle für Warentermingeschäfte beauftragt Dienstleistungen für alle Maklergeschäfte

NASHVILLE, TN – July 23, 2012 – Within 24 hours of a regulatory mandate to use electronic audit-confirmation service Confirmation, PFGBest, a commodity brokerage unit of Peregrine Financial Group, Inc., was exposed as a multi-year $215 million fraud.

"PFGBest is a sadly common example of how easily bank and account information can be falsified to evade detection of accounting frauds," said Brian Fox, founder and president of Confirmation. "CEO Russell Wasendorf resisted using our service for months, presumably because he knew that as soon as electronic confirmation went into effect, he would be exposed. Seit der Einführung des Services im Jahr 2000 konnten wir dieses Muster schon einige Male beobachten – der Widerstand gegen unser System ist wie ein Warnsignal, das auf Betrug hinweist.“

In diesem Fall ließen tausende Warentermingeschäfts-Investoren ihre Konten einfrieren, während Aufsichtsstellen versuchten, den tatsächlichen Standort der Gelder zu ermitteln.

Press reports indicate that the NFA is moving to mandate use of Confirmation by all of their regulated brokerages.

"This is a textbook case of how easy it is to use false mailing addresses and fax machines to conceal massive theft and fraud," Fox added, referring to the way Wasendorf faxed forged confirmation documents and provided auditors with what they presumed was a bank's address but has now been reported as being controlled by Wasendorf to avoid detection. „Die umfassende Nutzung unseres Systems wird Betrugsfälle dieser Größenordnung in Zukunft verhindern.“

Auditors and financial institutions in more than 160 countries use Confirmation to help avoid the growing global propensity for fraud and the magnitude of those frauds. Durch die Überprüfung der Authentizität jedes Benutzers verbessert die Cloud-basierte Lösung des Unternehmens nicht nur die Qualität der Revisionsprozesse, sondern steigert auch das Vertrauen der Investoren in die Finanzberichte.

"This event, while tragic for its victims, is a tremendous validation of our service and an indictment on the outdated paper confirmation process," said Chris Schellhorn, CEO of Confirmation. „Zahlreiche Unternehmen und Finanzinstitute haben sich bereits an uns gewandt, um unser System einzuführen und ihren Investoren und Kunden so zu versichern, dass ihre Konten sicher und transparent sind.“

Schellhorn and Fox added that they have seen a significant surge in business inquiries, which happened concurrently with a planned expansion of the service to overseas markets including Turkey, Australia, and South Africa.

About Confirmation

Confirmation is the digital platform and global network trusted by audit firms, banks, law firms, and credit managers to quickly and securely verify financial data. As the inventor of electronic confirmations in 2000, we reshaped and modernized the audit confirmation process. Today, Confirmation helps nearly a million clients across 160 countries confirm more than $1 trillion in financial data every year. Learn more at Confirmation.com. 

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