Milind Sheth

Director - Melbourne

Milind Sheth is a Director in the Fraud & Forensic Services team, based in our Melbourne office. 

He has spent more than 15 years working across forensic accounting, fraud investigations, workplace and financial crime investigations, and fraud and corruption risk management, having earlier worked within a Big Four firm's forensic practice and later led sensitive workplace and financial crime investigations at a major Australian bank. 

Milind works with government agencies, large corporates, middle market and regional businesses, and law firms, frequently on matters referred through legal counsel, including family law disputes involving disputed assets. He is known for pairing forensic accounting rigour with practical investigative experience, and for staying accessible and straightforward with clients working through difficult, high-pressure situations.

"Complex problems rarely come with simple answers. I help clients get to the facts, understand the risks, and work out what to do next. I’ll be there throughout the journey, asking the difficult questions, challenging assumptions, and providing a fiercely independent view every step of the way."

Milind is a Chartered Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner and licensed investigator. He has led multidisciplinary teams on complex engagements and takes an active interest in developing the people he works with, particularly those early in their careers.

As a licensed investigator, he conducts lawful and independent investigations into workplace misconduct, bullying and harassment, fraud, corruption, financial crime, conflicts of interest and insider threat concerns. Where money is involved, he pairs that investigative work with forensic accounting to quantify what was lost. He also prepares expert witness reports on damages and other financial issues for use in disputes and litigation.

Milind describes himself as a Third Culture Kid, having grown up adapting to different cultures and environments. He puts much of his ability to build trust quickly with clients and colleagues down to that upbringing.

Solutions MIlind Sheth provides

Milind provides expert knowledge in the following areas:

• Forensic/fraud and financial crime investigations
• Forensic accounting and loss quantification including expert witness reports for litigation and disputes
• Workplace misconduct and insider threat investigations
• Fraud, bribery & corruption/integrity framework and controls reviews
• Forensic or fraud-related training
• Forensic technology and forensic data analytics
• Whistleblower services
• Forensic due diligence, business intelligence, and asset tracing

SIgnificant projects

• Played a leading role in complex mortgage fraud and financial crime investigations, including matters associated with the Penthouse Syndicate allegations. Worked with Financial Crime, Fraud, Legal and Compliance teams to investigate mortgage brokers, legal practitioners, accountants and bank employees, identify control weaknesses, and support remediation and regulatory responses to significant financial crime risks.
• Led an investigation into allegations of expense fraud involving a senior banking executive. The engagement involved detailed reviews of expense claims, policies and supporting records, stakeholder interviews, and the preparation of investigation findings and recommendations for senior management.
• Conducted an employee misconduct investigation into allegations that an employee had falsely represented completion of mandatory training requirements. The engagement involved analysing system records and assessing the integrity of a date-stamping application, identifying control weaknesses that enabled record manipulation and provided critical evidence to support the investigation findings and subsequent management action.
• Conducted an investigation into allegations of conflicts of interest involving a technology executive. The engagement involved reviewing procurement practices, supplier relationships, and approval records, identifying the circumvention of established procurement processes in favour of a preferred supplier, and preparing findings for management. 
• Conducted an investigation under legal professional privilege for a legal firm for their client, a hardware manufacturer company, into potentially adverse conduct of certain senior management involved including alleged conflict of interest, misappropriation of assets and diversion of funds.
• Conducted a forensic financial audit for a Victorian State Government agency of a health service located in a regional area of Victoria in response to information received about allegations of misuse of corporate credit cards to purchase health service items for personal benefit.
• Conducted an investigation under legal professional privilege for a legal firm for their client in a family law dispute, which involved a review of self-managed superfund financial documents and identification of evidence to prove misappropriation of a number of assets.
• Performed a fraud and corruption framework review to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the framework, processes and controls over fraud and corruption control planning and resourcing, prevention, detection and response for a large energy company.
• Conducted a forensic accounting investigation, which involved quantification of loss from alleged unauthorised pay raise and unauthorised use of corporate credit cards by employees at a safety equipment supplier.
• Investigated allegations of impropriety by an employee at a Victorian Council including identifying deliberate reduction or removal of fees to clients, removing statutory requirements and receiving financial or other benefits. The investigation was conducted through a computer forensic examination.
• Investigated alleged conflict of interest breaches and identified any related impropriety in relation to two employees for a Commonwealth government agency. The investigation resulted in one of the employees being terminated.
• Assessed the adequacy and effectiveness of the processes and controls over Fraud Management to better practices for a TAFE provider including the review of the fraud (and corruption control) framework and policies currently in place, assessing fraud control practices against best practice and communication and training programs to create staff awareness.
• Managed a team of accountants with investigating and quantifying systemic national underpayment of wages at an international chain of convenience stores.
• Investigated and quantified the financial impact to hundreds of businesses as a result of the then Commonwealth Government initiated Home Insulation Program.
• Investigated royalties collected from the minerals, extractive and petroleum sectors by a Victorian Government department identifying and quantifying undetected or unrecovered royalties payable by licensee holders.
• Identified incriminating evidence to substantiate allegations of procurement fraud and conflict of interest by local council employees through a forensic IT investigation approach.
• Investigated erroneous intercompany transactions including review of policies and procedures to observe compliance at the Australian subsidiary of a global cosmetic company.
• Investigated Medicare Locals as part of the Federal Government’s commission of audit.
• Investigated alleged fraud involving finance leases originating from various brokers for a large car leasing company.
• Investigated and quantified alleged employee fraud at a retailer including preparation of a report for litigation and recovery purposes.
• Provided forensic accounting assistance and expert evidence on behalf of clients (several individuals and companies) with offshore business interests subject to an ATO project Wickenby investigation.

Events and Presentations

• C-Suite Fraud – ‘Yes, it happens more regularly than one would like to believe!’ – Presentation to CPA Australia Victoria Forensics & Financial Investigations Discussion Group (FFIDG)
• ‘Best Practice Fraud Control and Forensic Accounting/Investigation: Client Case Studies from the Trenches’, RSM Australia webinar
• ‘Top 5 regulatory and fraud events of 2024 and their impact for 2025’, RSM Global Forensics webinar 
• Panel discussion on ‘Emerging Fraud Trends in 2024’ hosted by the Forensic Accounting Specialists (VIC) group at the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) in Melbourne 
• ‘Probity and Fraud in Procurement’ presentation to the Southern Metro Procurement Group
• ‘Artificial Intelligence in Fraud investigations’ presentation to Swinburne University of Technology Forensic Accounting students
• ACFE Fraud Conference Asia Pacific, ‘Discover the Different Types of Fraudsters' presentation
• 'Forensic Accounting 101 for non-accountants’– In-person presentation to Macpherson Kelley Lawyers
• ‘Fraud & Forensic Services’– In-person presentation to Beta Alpha Psi University Of Melbourne Chapter students
• ‘Employee misconduct – maximise the benefits of conducting forensic / investigative due diligence – Joint presentation with Dentons 
• ‘Fraud and Corruption Control: Hindsight, Insight, and Foresight’, RSM national live webinar
• ‘Fraud & Forensic Services’– In-person presentation to Swinburne University of Technology Forensic Accounting students 
• ACFE Fraud Conference Asia Pacific, Singapore - 'Conducting cross-border investigations' presentation (in person)
• ‘Employee misconduct – Maximise the benefits of a legal and forensic response’ – Joint presentation with Dentons 
• Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) – Financial Services Assurance Forum in Sydney in-person, presentation on ‘Financial crime and corruption control in the Financial Services sector – Alerts for internal auditors’
• 11th Annual Fraud Management Summit, panel discussion on “How prepared are you against sophisticated criminals” and facilitated a workshop on “Strengthening your anti-fraud resilience programs”
• ‘Forensic Due Diligence’ – Presentation to CPA Australia Victoria Forensics & Financial Investigations Discussion Group (FFIDG)

professional Associations and licences

• Member, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ)
• Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Global Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE)
• Vice President and Treasurer, ACFE Melbourne Chapter
• Licensed investigator

Qualifications

• Master of Applied Commerce (Accounting), Melbourne University
• Bachelor of Science (Finance and Economics), Rutgers University (New Jersey, USA)
• Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting (CA)
• Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
• Certificate III in Investigative Services
• Diploma and Certificate IV in Government Fraud Control and Investigations