“We Should’ve Acted Sooner”: A True Story from a Day Surgery Center

Yousif Alkhanjrai | Strategic Business Advisor | Chairman & Group CEO | Assist Plus Group Driving Business Growth, Valuation & Financial Advisory

I want to share a real experience from one of our assignments that left a strong impression on me — not just as a professional, but as someone who has seen how businesses can fall apart when trust is misplaced and red flags are ignored.

We were asked to conduct an Agreed Upon Procedure (AUP) and a forensic audit for a day surgery center in the UAE. For those unfamiliar, an AUP is where a client says: “Can you check these specific things for us?” It’s very focused, very factual — no opinions, just findings. A forensic audit, on the other hand, digs deeper. It’s investigative. It’s what you turn to when you suspect fraud or misconduct.

Now here’s what we walked into…

The center was owned by three partners — two major shareholders who were both doctors, and a third minor partner who handled the operations. The doctors were excellent practitioners, but like many professionals I’ve met over the years, they weren’t involved in the financials or day-to-day admin. They left all of that to the minor partner… who, by the way, had full Power of Attorney to run things on their behalf.

Sounds convenient, right? Well, that convenience turned costly.

During our procedures and forensic work, we discovered that the minor partner and the CEO were working together, and not in a good way. Over time, they had manipulated supplier payments, misused clinic funds, and rerouted revenue. The numbers didn’t lie. There were patterns, transactions, and clear signs of embezzlement.

It wasn’t just poor management — it was deliberate.

And here’s the part that really stuck with me: we reported everything. We laid out the findings clearly. We highlighted the risks. We showed how and where the misconduct happened.

But no serious action was taken.

For various reasons — maybe internal politics, maybe reluctance to escalate — nothing changed. No restructuring, no legal steps, not even the removal of access from those involved.

Fast forward a few months: the center closed down. Not because of bad medical service. Not because of market conditions. But because financial mismanagement went unchecked.

It was avoidable.

What I learned (and keep seeing)

This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen this — and I doubt it’ll be the last.

Too many business owners, especially in professional fields like healthcare, engineering, and education, focus only on what they know — and hand over the rest. They trust, sometimes blindly, and don’t install the right checks and balances.

And when things go wrong, they’re shocked.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

If you’re a business owner, partner, or investor, ask yourself:

• Do I know how my business is being run behind the scenes?

• Do I have the right people checking the financials?

• Am I leaving too much power in the hands of one person?

Sometimes all it takes is a simple AUP or a targeted forensic audit to shine a light on areas you never thought to check.

This case is not isolated. It echoes across industries where the absence of governance structures allows misconduct to flourish quietly. I personally believe in empowering business owners—not just through compliance but through clarity, accountability, and foresight.

If you’re a shareholder, investor, or entrepreneur unsure about the financial health or governance of your entity, don’t wait for things to go wrong. Agreed Upon Procedures and Forensic Auditing can be your first lines of defense.