Mary Furst is a managing director with Baker Tilly’s forensic, litigation and valuation services practice. For more than 30 years, Mary has thrived on the challenge and opportunity of being a forensic accountant, conducting multi-faceted investigations that require the precise measurement of economic damages. Clients count on Mary to distill complex financial problems and theory into simple to understand presentations and reports.
Working with insurance companies and law firms, Mary uses her skills as a forensic accountant and certified fraud examiner to analyze the situation and quantify the financial implications of each case or claim. She has measured large commercial losses related to business interruption and extra expense, property loss, builders risk/construction defect, fraud, liability and recall, catastrophic loss, employment dispute and class action – wage and hour.
Mary has worked with disputes, fraud investigations and cases across a range of industries, including, but not limited to, energy, technology and manufacturing for high tech and plastics products.
- Following wildfires in Sonoma and Napa Valley, analyzed losses for more than 25 wineries. The claimed losses included but were not limited to Business Income losses for the different sales channels such as tasting room, wine club, distribution, and bulk juice/wine. The analyses included review of sales price and cost of sales for the various varietal and vintages. Losses also involved smoke-taint juice that was in process. We reviewed production plans and actual production results for unaffected grapes/juice to evaluate the likely use of the juice and eventually lost sales value
- As a result of operator error, a tank of partially processed juice emptied, and the contents were lost. A claim was made for lost sales value of the lost inventory. Our analyses involved review of historical and planned production and associated sales prices and expenses
- Quantifying complex business interruption loss claims totaling more than U.S. $400 million filed by a semi-conductor manufacturing company when global production and manufacturing was disrupted following the earthquake in Japan
- Evaluating multiple product recall claims for a flour manufacturer when foreign matter was discovered in the flour, prompting a widespread recall. Many of the third-party claims were filed by major food manufacturers and distributors, increasing the complexity of the claim assessment
- Quantifying damage totals in a large wage and hour class action litigation between a major municipality and the municipal union in a dispute over pay and overtime payments due to more than 1,000 class members
- Tracing transactions, loan documents, bank records and loan files to quantify losses and recovery potential in a U.S. $27 million banking fraud scheme initiated by a loan broker
- Verifying a series of complex, multitiered losses incurred by contractors and subcontractors following the failure of a foundational wall during construction of a high-rise building. The wall failure put the entire project on hold and gave rise to claims for delayed startup, builder’s risk, repair costs, extra expense, expedited expense and soft cost expenses, and required but-for scenario comparisons with actual costs
- Determining the quantum of the actual loss sustained following a fire that damaged a steam turbine that led to the shutdown of combustion turbines. The computations involved analysis of fixed and variable contracts, sales to the market, and included offsetting trades and production from alternative plants owned by the independent power producer that operates plants throughout the United States and Canada
- Analyzing transactions and monthly reporting from the managing agent to the reinsurers spanning 3 years to confirm compliance with the cover holder contract. Confirmed the reporting of the aggregate, risk and bordereaux with supporting documents. Reported omissions and reconciled appropriate allocations to the market
- American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, member
- California Society of Certified Public Accountants, member
- San Francisco and Sacramento Chapters, Litigation Consulting Services, member
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, member
- Mary has testified on the quantification of damages as an expert witness in state and federal courts, depositions, arbitrations and mediations on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants
- Mary has participated in seminars, presentations and served as a guest speaker regarding investigative accounting, fraud and the measurement of damages to members of the insurance and legal industries. She is a frequent speaker at national industry conferences such as the Property & Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB), the Property Claim Services (PCS) Catastrophe Conference, and at various other local organizations
- “Forensic Accounting: Is it Really Lost Income? (Part 3),” co-author with James McCurley, California Lawyer, June 2018
- “Looking Hard at Claimed ‘In House’ Expenses: Part 2,” co-author with James McCurley, California Lawyer, May 2018
- “Deconstructing Construction Claims: Part 1,” co-author with James McCurley, California Lawyer, May 2018
- “The Role of a Forensic Accountant,” California Lawyer, June 2014
- “Business Interruption CAT Related Coverages & Claim Issues”, PCS Catastrophe Conference, April 2013
- Certified Public Accountant
- Accredited in Business Valuation, American Institute of CPAs
- Certified in Financial Forensics
- Certified Fraud Examiner
- Human Resources Management Certificate, University of California Berkeley
