16th Annual ACFE Fraud Conference & Exhibition: The watchword was 'deterrence'
Their heads were spinning. The 1,500 plus fraud examiners from 50 countries left the 16th Annual ACFE Fraud Conference & Exhibition in Washington, D.C. in July with the beneficial effects of information overload. With just about every possible fraud examination topic covered, the attendees would take weeks - months - to digest it all. But one theme was repeated by speakers throughout the general sessions, 11 tracks, and 88 breakouts: deterrence.

Fraud Edge: Anti-Fraud Education. Standardizing nationally, expanding globally
Fraud is a universal problem that threatens the very underpinnings of business and government across the globe. While many professionals in the United States scramble to keep up with accounting changes mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Statement on Auditing Standards No. 99 "Consideration of Fraud in Financial Statements," our international counterparts face similar challenges. In fact, our European neighbors have their own version of Enron - they call it Parmalat.

The Barings Bank Case: Image in the Mirror
The numerous investigations into the current sensational corporate failures will expose many of the same operations control weaknesses that led to the collapse of the Barings Bank of London.

Basic Recipes for Slush Funds: Circumventing Internal Controls Through Slush Concoctions
In the beginning, the agency managers meant to use the 'unofficial' bank account for good and not for evil, as the comic book super-heroes would say.

Breaking Tradition in the Auditing Profession
Established auditing approaches cannot adequately detect financial statement fraud. The ACFE proposes a Model Organizational Fraud Deterrence Program as an alternate, more effective strategy for both auditors and investors.

Fraud and the Law: Confidential informants: The good, the bad and the ugly
Confidential informants, also known as CI's, can be the best thing that ever happened to you and your case. They can also lie, deceive, and ruin your fraud examination. This session explores how to develop and properly use them and avoid the common pitfalls.

Enemies Within
In a study of 2,608 cases of occupational fraud and abuse, we learned that asset misappropriation can be subdivided into specific types.

The “F-Word” By Another Name
The accounting profession, as you may know, has historically had a problem saying the f-word.

A Fistful of Dollars
The best fraud prevention efforts will concentrate on increasing an employee's perception of being caught.

Flunking the Ethics Test: Aspects Fostering Unethical Behavior in Corporate Culture
A closer look at the role of ethics in the corporate environment and the attitudes that foster unethical behavior.

Fraud Edge: A FORUM FOR FRAUD-FIGHTING FACULTY IN HIGHER ED
I've always been very proud of the profession I chose, but that pride has been tested several times in the past few years since the Enron scandal with Andersen's complicity. After the Enron debacle, I received cartoon clippings from my friends and colleagues for what seemed like an eternity poking fun at the integrity, or lack thereof, of those in the accounting profession.

Fraud Edge: Cleaning our Own House. De-frauding the halls of academe
As Certified Fraud Examiners, we learn that three factors, collectively referred to as the Fraud Triangle, may portend fraudulent behavior. According to the late Donald Cressey, when pressures/incentives, opportunity, and rationalization converge, the environment is ripe for fraud. Although many may presuppose that academe is above such behavior, history has shown otherwise. All types of organizations are susceptible to fraud - even colleges and universities.

Fraud Edge: A forum for fraud-fighting faculty in higher ed. Educators' mission advances: higher education meeting update from Washington, D.C.
More than 1,500 attendees traveled to Washington, D.C. in July for the 16th Annual ACFE Fraud Conference & Exhibition. That group contained many educators intent on advancing the ACFE's aim to bring fraud examination principles to college and university students around the globe.

Fraud & the Law: Law for Fraud Examiners. The Revised Federal Sentencing Guidelines: What do they mean for organizations?
Supreme Court ruling in January 2005, federal judges were required to use the Guidelines to determine whether a defendant organization had an "effective compliance program" in place to prevent the violations for which it was being charged.

Fraud Edge: Building a fraud examination program
Most academics are aware of the red tape entailed in introducing a new course in higher education. Few, however, have ever actually experienced the challenge of creating an entirely new academic program, suffering through the organizational politics and bureaucracy of the approval process, and marketing the finished product.

Fraud EDge: Pioneers in the world of Masters of Forensic Accounting
Unlike other institutions, which offer forensic and fraud studies as a specialization or concentration of a generic accounting degree, the Master's of Forensic Accounting (MFA) degree at the University of Wollongong in Australia is unique because it's solely dedicated to the study of forensic accounting and fraud examination.

From the President
April 2005 may set a record for the largest number of false filings submitted to the government in a single month. These filings will come in two streams. Both will cause substantial harm to society, but in the short-term the smaller group of false filings may actually be the bigger problem.

Geis, Sutherland, and White-collar Crime
This article is excerpted from the book 'Contemporary Issues in Crime & Criminal Justice: Essays in Honor of Gilbert Geis,' edited by Henry N. Pontell and David Shichor. This collection, published by Prentice Hall, was assembled in honor of Dr. Geis on hi

Geis, Sutherland, and the Development of White-collar Crime, Part Two
This article, continued from a previous issue of The White Paper, is excerpted from 'Contemporary Issues in Crime & Criminal Justice: Essays in Honor of Gilbert Geis,' edited by Henry N. Pontell and David Shichor. The book, published this year by Prentice

Get Corporate Crooks on the Straight-and-Narrow
Legislation mandating executive transparency can go a long way toward preventing fraud.

Irrational Ratios
By standing far enough back from the numbers to get a good picture of the client's business, auditors frequently can detect signs of financial statement frauds.

Let Them Know Someone’s Watching
Those who perceive they will be caught engaging in fraud are less likely to commit it.

FRAUDBASICS: The Many Faces of Fraud
A review of the legal definitions of the principal types of fraud will help sharpen our focus in searching for white-collar criminals.

FRAUDBASICS: The Many Faces of Fraud, Part Two
This article reviews the concepts of conflicts of interest, theft of money or property, theft of trade secrets or intellectual property, and breach of fiduciary duty.

Merger and Acquisition Fever: The Expanding Role of Fraud Examiners in the Booming Acquisition Market
By applying their forensic accounting, analytical, and legal skills, fraud examiners can help clients identify potential issues before they commit to purchase a company, preventing unfortunate surprises after the deal has closed.

New Approaches for Fraud Deterrence
This article should provoke thought and debate among CPAs on how we might consider different approaches in the way audits are conducted in order to give the public what it really wants: business enterprises with integrity.

Starting out: FOR AND ABOUT FRAUD-FIGHTING STUDENTS IN HIGHER-ED - New Graduate Extols Internship Programs
Students can help increase our profession’s effectiveness at fighting fraud by augmenting the college experience with fraud-fighting internships.

Nonprofit Fraud: When the Bottom Line is Not the Bottom Line
Because nonprofit financial reporting fraud often looks quite different than it does in the for-profit world, so should the methods for finding it.

The Rewards of Dishonesty
Each of us has his or her moral code. It becomes the foundation for the ethical decisions we make on a daily basis.

Sherlock Holmes, CPA, Part 1
The first step in uncovering fraud in the auditor’s bailiwick: analyzing financial information.

So That’s Why It’s Called a PYRAMID SCHEME
Fraud comes in many shapes and sizes—and it’s growing faster than ever.

Educating a New Generation of Fraud Fighters - Using College Internships to Raise Awareness
The ACFE’s Higher Education Committee discusses the new Board of Regents’ resolution concerning eligibility requirements for certification of educators, the planned Journal of Fraud Studies, the establishment of student chapters, and other matters.

Why Employees Commit Fraud
It is important for CPAs to understand what motivates people to commit fraud so they can better assess risk and assist employers or clients in implementing appropriate preventive and detective measures.

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