Trending on Billboard
Accusations that Selena Gomez duped investors into putting $1.2 million into mental health startup Wondermind are baseless, the star’s lawyer, Mathew S. Rosengart, says after Gomez was named in a lawsuit filed Thursday (Aug. 13). Rosengart will be filing a motion to dismiss claims made in the suit.
On Saturday (Aug. 15), the litigator denied allegations made against Gomez in the statement seen below, which was first published by People. Billboard independently verified the statement with Rosengart.
“The allegations that Selena Gomez engaged in any way whatsoever in any purported ‘fraud’ or other wrongdoing are completely meritless, both factually and legally. We will vigorously defend these…
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.