Dear Leah,
I’m Chief Risk Officer, and I’m sitting on information that could destroy our company.
Three months ago, a senior manager came to me with evidence that our largest division has been systematically overstating revenue figures to meet targets. The amounts aren’t huge individually, but over 18 months it’s added up to £8 million of misreported income.
The division head - who reports directly to our CEO - claims it’s “timing differences” and “complex accounting,” but the documentation suggests deliberate manipulation.
I’ve raised concerns with our CEO twice, but he’s been defensive, saying I’m “overthinking it” and that the auditors haven’t flagged anything. The problem is, our CEO and this division head have been friends for 15 years, and this division’s “performance” has been central to our recent funding round. The manager who brought me the information is now getting frozen out and has hinted about going to regulators.
I’m meant to be protecting the company from risk, but addressing this feels like the biggest risk of all. Do I push harder internally?
Do I go to the Board?
Do I contact our auditors directly?
- Dabbling in Risky Business
Oh dear!
You're not dabbling in risky business, you're staring down the barrel of potential corporate catastrophe whilst your CEO embodies an ostrich. This isn't going away, and every day you delay makes the eventual reckoning worse.
DIAGNOSIS:
Your CEO is prioritising friendship over fiduciary duties; you're being asked to be complicit in what could be fraud. The "timing differences" defence is classic deflection, and the auditors' silence doesn't mean innocence, it means the company hasn’t been found out yet.
THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM:
This isn't about accounting complexity - it's about a CEO who can't separate personal loyalty from professional responsibility. Meanwhile, you're caught between protecting the company and protecting your career, whilst a whistleblower grows more desperate by the day.
THE PATH TO RESOLVING IT:
Document everything immediately and escalate to the Chair of the Board today. This is beyond internal resolution when the CEO is compromised by personal relationships. Frame it as protecting company value, not attacking individuals. The longer this festers, the more criminal it looks when it inevitably surfaces.
YOUR ROLE GOING FORWARDS:
Cover yourself legally.
Ensure all your concerns are documented and escalated through proper channels.
Protect the whistleblower.
Their courage brought this to light - don't let them face retaliation alone.
Act on your job title.
You're Chief Risk Officer - the biggest risk right now is doing nothing.
When friendship trumps governance, someone needs to be the grown-up. That someone is you, and the time is now.
