ACFE Awards First Cliff Robertson Sentinel Award to Namesake

The respected actor is honored for standing up to the duplicitous Hollywood establishment and lends his name to an award that will honor other whistle-blowers "For Choosing Truth Over Self."

Whistle-blowers are not revered in our society. According to Joseph T. Wells, CFE, CPA, Chairman and founder of the ACFE, they often are labeled as bigmouths, busybodies, snitches, tattlers, and troublemakers. "And as CFEs, we wonder why employees don't come forward and tell us of the frauds they know about," he said shortly before he presented the ACFE's first Cliff Robertson Sentinel Award to its namesake at the 14th Annual Fraud Conference & Exhibition, Aug. 3-8.

"Cliff Robertson didn't come forward to get rich; he was already rich," Wells said. "And he certainly didn't tell the truth about (movie mogul) David Begelman to become famous; Cliff was already famous. He did the right thing for one and only one reason: because it was the right thing."

Wells said that Robertson is one of many brave persons to come forward. "If we are ever to turn the corner on fraud," Wells said, "we must have the help of these people society has tarred forever with being 'whistle-blowers.' And we certainly need to call these heroes by a different name. They are actually corporate sentinels - our front line of defense against wrongdoing. We must remember their heroic sacrifices."