Forensic Analysis & Disputes
Forensic Analysis for Disputes, Partnership Separations and Financial Controls
Mordy Steinfeld is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) in Monsey, New York, who provides forensic analysis of financial records for counsel, lenders, investors and business partners: he reconstructs the financial picture from the records and documents what they show.
In a partnership dissolution, that means following the commingled funds through the account records and separating partnership assets from personal ones. He takes matters in industries he knows from his own work: real estate and hotels, fintech, and the businesses he has done due diligence on.
Services
Three kinds of matters
Reconciliation and financial controls
When money doesn't add up, or the controls haven't kept up
Controls that haven't kept up with a growing business, accounts that don't reconcile, or balances no one can explain. Mordy designs the controls, write-off rules and daily reconciliations, and where the books are already out of order he reconciles the accounts and documents what the records show.
Financial Controls
Ledger and Reconciliation FrameworkEarned-Wage-Access Fintech
Mordy designed a ledger-based financial-controls and daily-reconciliation framework for a fast-growing earned-wage-access fintech advancing ~$100M a year.
Disputes and partnership separations
When partners part ways, or a deal ends in a dispute
When business partners separate and partnership and personal money were mixed in the same accounts, Mordy reconstructs the flow of money from the account records, separates partnership assets from personal ones, and documents the result for the partners and their counsel. He also supports counsel with financial analysis when a transaction ends in a dispute.
Partnership Dissolution
Separating Partnership and Personal AssetsCryptocurrency Trading Partnership
Two partners traded cryptocurrency through one partner's account, mixing partnership and personal trades, sometimes in the same coins. Engaged by both partners jointly, Mordy traced every trade over four years and separated the individual assets from the partnership's. Both partners accepted the result, and they dissolved the partnership peacefully.
Transaction Dispute
Deposit DisputeBuyer Walked Away from a $14.3M Acquisition
After the buyer walked away from a $14.3M acquisition, Mordy supported the buyer with financial analysis in the dispute over the deposit, which was later resolved.
Distressed deals and workout support
When a deal is in trouble
For lenders, limited partners, co-investors and workout counsel on troubled deals, particularly in hotels and commercial real estate, Mordy reconstructs the financial picture from the records, including reported performance, reserves and related-party transactions, and documents what the records show.
Mordy also supports counsel with financial analysis in partnership and commercial real-estate disputes.
Credentials
- Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
- MBA, Boston University
- In business since 2001
Before accepting a matter, Mordy checks for conflicts of interest and discloses any he finds. Matters are confidential; the examples on this page are anonymized.
Based in Monsey, New York. Works with clients and counsel across the US.
Frequently Asked Questions
Money is disappearing and no one can explain where. Can you trace it through the records?
Where the records allow it, yes. Mordy reconciles the accounts, follows each entry through the records, and documents what they show about where the money went and what they do and don't support.
My business partner and I are dissolving our partnership, and partnership and personal money were mixed in the same accounts. Can you separate them?
Yes. In one partnership dissolution, two partners had traded cryptocurrency through one partner's account, mixing partnership and personal trades, sometimes in the same coins. Engaged by both partners jointly, Mordy traced every trade over four years and separated the individual assets from the partnership's. Both partners accepted the result. He can be engaged by one partner, directly or through counsel, or jointly by both.
We can't account for money that should be in the business. Can you examine the records?
Yes. Mordy examines the financial records the business already holds: which transactions the records show, how the balances were built, and what the records do and don't support. He documents what the records show and gives no opinion on anyone's guilt or innocence.
Will you tell us whether it was fraud?
No. A fraud examination, as Mordy practices it, documents what the records show: the transactions, the amounts and where the money went. Whether that amounts to fraud, and whether anyone is responsible, is for counsel and the courts to decide.
What do we get at the end?
Whatever the matter needs, agreed at the start: a written report, schedules tying the transactions to the records, and/or a memo for counsel.
Do you know my industry?
Mordy takes matters in industries he knows from his own work: real estate and hotels; fintech; and the businesses he has done due diligence on, including entertainment, building materials, distribution, home care, medical devices, construction, healthcare services and food service.
We're a lender (or limited partner) on a troubled deal. Can you tell us what the numbers really show?
Yes, as far as the records go. Mordy reconstructs the financial picture from the records, including reported performance, reserves and related-party transactions, and documents what they show for the lender or investor and their counsel.
Do you work with attorneys?
Yes. Mordy works both directly for clients and through their attorneys, and supports counsel with analysis in partnership and commercial real-estate disputes. He has been retained by counsel for financial analysis on matters in litigation, and can testify to his analysis. Attorneys are also among those who refer clients to him.
Are you a CPA?
No. Mordy is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), not a CPA. The Certified Fraud Examiner credential covers examining financial records and following transactions through them, which is the core of separating commingled funds. His work is analysis of what the financial records show, for counsel, lenders, investors and business partners.
Where do you work?
Mordy is based in Monsey, New York, and works with clients and counsel in New York and across the US.