Global Spotlight 

ACFE Wraps Up Seminars in Asia-Pacific Region 

Donald Cressey’s Fraud Triangle is not a concept that only applies to one gender, culture or country. Whether you are investigating fraud in Bangkok or Belfast, pressure, opportunity and rationalization are three universal factors that know no regional boundaries. Just as these motives are universal, so are the training and skills needed to fight them. 

In April the ACFE was proud to host seminars in Shanghai, Jakarta and Melbourne in an effort to offer more anti-fraud training and education in the Asia-Pacific region. With a diverse group of anti-fraud professionals in attendance at each course, the enthusiasm and need for education regarding internal fraud and investigations, as well as fraud risk management, were apparent.

“The fraud schemes themselves are universal – there seem to be very few differences in the schemes from one part of the world to another,” ACFE Faculty Member Gerry Zack, CFE, CPA, CIA and President of Zack, P.C. said. “When I was asked to teach these courses, I expected to really enjoy meeting anti-fraud professionals from all over the world and hearing their stories. And I was not disappointed.”

Zack found attendees anxious to hear the latest in anti-fraud training. “I shouldn’t be surprised by this any longer, but I continue to be impressed by the level of enthusiasm shown by attendees at ACFE events held outside of the U.S.,” Zack said. “The team of fraud fighters is more global than ever as this field has really taken hold throughout the world.”

Zack traveled first to Shanghai, China, April 15-16 to teach the two-day Auditing for Internal Fraud. The fraud fighters assembled there explored the challenges auditors face when identifying fraud and learned about the common schemes, detection techniques and methods of preventing occupational fraud. He then taught Conducting Internal Investigations in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 18-19 and wrapped up in Melbourne, Australia, April 22-23 with Fraud Risk Management. 

Lim Kurniawan, CFE, is the Managing Director at Awesome Consulting in Jakarta. He knew of Zack before attending the Conducting Internal Investigations course because he bought the book, Fair Value Accounting Fraud, written by Zack. In the book, Zack highlights the risks of the International Financial Reporting Standard, a standard that is adopted as a local accounting principle in Indonesia. Kurniawan and Zack not only share the challenges of implementing global standards, but they also experience the same successes and trials during the interviewing process.

Kurniawan plans to use the lessons from a simulation Zack used in the course to help clients interview witnesses. “The skills taught in this course were practical, which I believe to be very applicable,” Kurniawan said. “Gerry offered specific examples from his own life, not fictitious ones. It was such an honor for Indonesia to be visited by an amazing international speaker. I hope in the future such a richly rewarding course could be attended by more people, thus Indonesia could be more blessed in this way.”  

The idea to host more events in the Asia-Pacific region materialized when ACFE President and CEO Jim Ratley traveled to Singapore in 2011 for the ACFE Asia-Pacific Fraud Conference. He heard first-hand from ACFE members about their need for more fraud-fighting education in Asia and Australia. “The hunger for knowledge was apparent,” Ratley recalled. “They came to me with a problem and told me their most prevalent concerns. We listened and we reacted with an effort to bring more training to that region.”