Protecting the Sentinels Blowing the Whistle: A Historical Perspective

Whistle-blowers (or sentinels as the ACFE calls them) raise signals that something is amiss. In this issue, Karol Romanowicz, a second-year graduate student in the Master of Public Administration-Inspector General Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, provides a simple historical primer on the whistle-blower phenomenon and implications for fraud examiners. This column is adapted from a paper Romanowicz wrote for a college course.  

Identifying internal fraudulent, wasteful, or corrupt behavior, as we know, can be extremely difficult. Elaborate illicit practices such as those committed by executives of Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, or other mega corporations can take years to identify and investigate. A fraud examiner’s best source of information is someone on the inside – a whistle-blower.