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Written by: Christopher Kamnitsis | Adelphi Financial
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping financial services, promising greater efficiency, automation and scale. But for all its capabilities, AI still lacks one essential trait: It doesn’t care.
We were reminded of that in a recent client engagement that began with a simple tax review and ultimately uncovered a multi-year fraud scheme that no system—or prior advisor—had detected.
The lesson isn’t that technology lacks value. It’s that the work of a truly effective financial professional goes beyond the data. It requires persistence, intuition and a willingness to dig deeper when something doesn’t add up.
The Human Connection
Several years ago, the founder and owner of a 50+ year successful truck leasing business, Roman Trucking, asked my partner, Daniel McMillan, at Adelphi Financial to review his tax returns, as he was concerned that his accountant wasn’t taking all exemptions and deductions available to him. Daniel immediately noticed one glaring error. Our client, Roger Roman, always wore a Marines hat, and the return wasn’t claiming a military exemption. After my partner shared this fact, Mr. Roman informed his accountant, who then filed amended New Jersey personal income tax returns for three years at $400 per year. But incredibly, the accountant charged my client $400 for each amended return, essentially wiping out every dollar of the refund while further enriching himself and his firm.
Meanwhile, Mr. Roman confessed that he had concerns about the health of the business. This was at the height of COVID, when trucking companies were making huge profits, so that fact, combined with the sloppy work from the accounting firm, immediately set off alarm bells.
Mr. Roman connected us to his most trusted employee, Alejandro Garcia, a 27-year worker being groomed to purchase the business as part of his succession plan. But, at every turn, Mr. Garcia either wasn’t available or would make excuses for why the business was in poor health.
At our client’s urging, in late fall 2024, we started digging into his bank statements. Daniel noticed irregular Zelle transfers to Mr. Garcia and soon discovered that he had quietly opened a shadow company—Roman Truck Leasing Company of New Jersey – a nearly identical name to the legitimate business. When looking at everything in context, we grew extremely concerned about what other financial irregularities we would find.
Mr. Roman engaged a forensic accounting firm in early 2025 to investigate, but that firm only seemed to skim the surface. Our client took the case back and handed it back to us.
A Young Employee Cracks the Case
In June of 2025, a young man named Davon Garvey walked into our office on his first day as an analyst/intern. We immediately handed him four boxes of bank statements dating to 2020 and told him to get to work identifying potentially fraudulent transactions.
For years, Mr. Garcia was writing direct personal checks drawn from the business for a range of items, including a $125,000 BMW, expensive jewelry, property taxes on various homes, tuition payments for his children and more. Additionally, he put his wife, mistress, two daughters, mother and sister on the company payroll as no-show employees. Incredibly, in the ADP account, his mistress was the company’s highest-compensated employee, listed as having worked a total of zero hours. Mr. Garcia also pocketed money from two separate PPP loans.
By lunchtime, our young analyst had uncovered $200,000 in misappropriated funds – more than what a fancy forensic accountant (charging a $15,000 retainer) uncovered during its entire engagement.
Ultimately, our team flagged more than $2.5 million in fraud from the bank statements alone and then proceeded to turn over our work to the local prosecutor.
Last month, Union County Prosecutor William A Dale formally indicted Mr. Garcia, his wife and his mistress with a range of felony charges in connection with an $8 million multi-year theft and money-laundering scheme. They are expected to appear in court next month. Meanwhile, we continue to pursue justice for our client, recovering plundered assets while also targeting the original accountant for failing to discover nearly $1 million in fraudulent write-offs.
Back to Basics
This, of course, is not your typical client success story. Most financial advisors and tax preparers do not uncover 15+ year, multi-million-dollar schemes. However, it does highlight a few salient points.
First, experience is important, but it’s not everything. A recent college graduate on his first day on the job accomplished more in two hours than a 40-year-old forensic account firm. Some people are lazy. When choosing a professional, it’s more important to prioritize a partner who is committed to the cause over seemingly fancy credentials.
Second, details matter. We began our engagement by noticing something small that many competitors might have overlooked: Our client proudly wore his Marines hat but wasn’t getting the benefit of a military exemption on his tax return. The best professionals will spot the little things other people miss—from catching errors on a form to connecting personal details to financial goals.
Lastly, there is no substitute for good old-fashioned human connection. AI and other technologies are incredibly useful tools, but at the end of the day, fostering strong relationships is the most important ingredient. Unlike Mr. Roman’s original accountant and his forensic accounting firm, we genuinely cared about our client. When we saw something was amiss, we wanted to do good work, not simply because it was our job, but because it was the right thing to do. Because we cared about a good man and wanted to help save the business he spent a lifetime building.
As technology becomes more pervasive in financial services and beyond, it’s important to remember that a tool will never be able to replace a committed professional who truly cares about their client and the work.