Finding Undisclosed Accounts
DocuClipper flags accounts that a set of bank statements references but never produces — the account numbers a subject moved money to but did not hand over — and shows them in red on the Coverage grid with the transactions that name them.
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In a forensic engagement the hard question is not what the statements say. It's what they leave out. DocuClipper's undisclosed-account detection answers that: it reads every transaction description in a project, finds account numbers and institutions the statements refer to, and flags the ones you hold no statement for.
Those accounts appear as red rows at the bottom of the Coverage grid, under the heading Referenced, not produced — zero coverage for every month, because you have nothing for them.
What counts as an undisclosed account
DocuClipper reports two different strengths of finding, and treats them differently on purpose.
Account references (hard evidence)
A transaction description names another account number:
TRANSFER TO ACCOUNT *4421ONLINE TRANSFER TO CHK ...8833Requested transfer to J. Smith (BANK OF AMERICA, N.A. Saving XXXXXX6606)- An IBAN on a European statement
The bank itself printed that identifier, so it is defensible in a document request. These are the findings that become red rows in the Coverage grid.
Institution references (leads)
A description names a bank, broker, or wallet that has no statement anywhere in the project — SCHWAB BROKERAGE TRANSFER, WEALTHFRONT, COINBASE. That is a lead rather than proof, because the same text can come from an ordinary card payment. These are listed separately, under Institutions referenced with no statement in this file, and never colour the grid.
What DocuClipper rules out
Precision matters more than volume here, because you will be asked to justify every account you name. DocuClipper discards a reference when:
- It matches an account you already produced. A transfer to an account whose statements are in the project is an internal transfer, not a hidden account.
- The transfer already has a visible receiving side. If the transaction is matched to its counterpart in another account you hold (see Transfers Analysis), the money is accounted for.
- The number is the statement's own account. Banks routinely stamp the account's own number into every memo line —
Zelle payment from J. Smith (Ally Spending Account XXXXXX1570) to …. DocuClipper reads the direction of the movement to tell the subject's own account from the counterparty's. - The number isn't an account at all. Reference, confirmation and trace numbers, check numbers, terminal and store IDs, phone numbers, and dollar amounts are all excluded.
Reading the Coverage grid
Undisclosed accounts sit below your produced accounts, separated by the Referenced, not produced heading.
- A light red cell is a month with no statement, like any other gap.
- A dark red cell is a month where the account was actually referenced by activity in a statement you do hold. These are the periods to name in a document request — you can prove activity happened, and you have nothing covering it.
The Referenced, not produced count also appears in the summary at the top of the Coverage screen, and each account is listed as a chip you can open.
Reading the evidence
Click any undisclosed account — the chip, the row label, or a dark red cell — to open its evidence.
You get the total that moved out to it, the total that came back in from it, how many times it was referenced, the period it spans, and then every citing transaction with its date, the account it came from, the verbatim description, and the amount.
That list is the point. A candidate on its own is a claim; the transactions are what let you judge it and what you put in front of opposing counsel. Money moving out and back in from the same unproduced account is round-tripping, and it is usually the finding worth pulling on first.
Exporting
The Export CSV button on the Coverage grid includes undisclosed accounts as rows, marked (referenced, not produced) at 0% coverage, with the referenced months listed in the Missing Periods column. That gives you a coverage schedule and a document request in the same file.
What this does not do
DocuClipper reads what is written on the statements you give it. It cannot see an account that is never mentioned anywhere in the production. If a subject holds an account at another bank and never moves money between it and a produced account, nothing in the file will point to it.
It also reports candidates, not conclusions. A referenced account might be a closed account, a business account already disclosed elsewhere, or a counterparty's account rather than the subject's. The evidence list is there so you make that call.
FAQs
Where do undisclosed accounts show up?
At the bottom of the Coverage grid in Advanced Analysis, under the Referenced, not produced heading, plus a count in the summary at the top of the screen.
Why is an account shown in red for every month?
Because you hold no statement for it in any month. The darker red months are the ones where DocuClipper saw the account actually referenced by activity in a statement you do hold.
Do I need to re-extract my statements for this?
No. Detection runs over transaction descriptions already in your projects, so existing documents are covered as soon as you open Coverage.
Why is a bank listed as a lead instead of an account?
Because the description named the institution but no account number — SCHWAB BROKERAGE TRANSFER tells you where to look but does not identify an account. Those are listed separately so the Coverage grid only ever shows identified accounts.
An account is flagged that I know about. What do I do?
Upload a statement for it. Once the project holds statements for that account, the reference resolves to an account you produced and it stops being reported.
Can DocuClipper prove someone hid an account?
No — it surfaces leads for discovery. It shows you an account number a produced statement referenced and that you have no statements for, together with the transactions that name it. What that means is a judgment for the investigator.