Genre is science fiction/space opera The scenario is as follows - a high-level executive returns to work after a long period of absence, only to begin suspecting that the company is losing/has lost a lot more money than the CEO (her grandfather) and the BoD are making known. A subplot in this overall scenario is an attempt by a single individual to hide the mobilization of an enormous amount of company resources for a secret mining project. This individual cannot afford in any way to be caught doing this, but has managed to move a small amount of loyal personnel and machinery (think futuristic versions spaceship dump trucks, forklifts, backhoes, etc.) without anyone noticing. This is a very large corporation by the way. This company is a mining conglomerate is organizing a secret drilling operation in an area of the galaxy where it is illegal to do so. So my question is basically this - from the perspective of the protagonist's forensic accountant (who suspects something is wrong), what steps might he take to find out if money is missing (cleverly hidden at that) and where it might be going? And also, assuming the theft of these resources is done in a clever manner, what might be the initial discrepancy that turns the accountant on to the fact that something is wrong? As you can tell I am totally clueless with the appropriate terminology. Definitely not my area of expertise at all.
What type of government are you dealing with? If it's similar to US Gov, then you could have some 'gov agent'** tip her off. The tip off could be non-malicious, in that the agent is merely questioning -- which leads the MC to discover the coverup. Or, the agent is malicious in that he/she wants to someway benefit from the tip off. ** - you could replace gov agent with any outside power. A reporter or an adversary/rival company, for example.
Enron definitely! I would look into the stories that the MSNBC show American Greed has broadcast. I'm sure you can watch them on Youtube and that will give you ENDLESS information on cooking the books and other forensic accounting information and schemes
