As business systems have grown more complex and moved into a digital world, they’ve created more opportunities not only for fraud but also for uncovering fraud. It is my contention that auditing should be the number one reason for exposing fraud. And that requires a shift in mindset as well as the right techniques.
The answers to last month's trivia and the setup to this month's topic on the people behind the fraud
What industry was Equity Funding in? Insurance.
What fraud risk statement occurred in Equity Funding? False Revenue to a false customer.
How did the fraud become known? A whistleblower, who most likely was part of the cover-up at one time.
How many employees participated in the cover-up? Over 100!
Is it true that the auditors went to jail? Yes. Apparently, the jurors thought that negligence in performing an audit is as serious as participation in fraud.
Before we start this month’s blog, last month’s fraud trivia questions and answers.
What was the original name of the ACFE? NACFE
What was the original name of the ACFE monthly newsletter? White Paper
Is there a designation, Life Time CFE? Yes, it was issued once in the early years
What is your favorite Fraud Movie? This is always a tough question, but here is a few: Catch Me if You Can; The Wolf of Wall Street; Wizard of Lies, and of course, The Accountant.
Before we start on this journey, I need to explain the premise of my blog. I want to explore whether there is business value in an organization incurring the cost of preparing a comprehensive fraud risk assessment.
Professional Skepticism… How we can become number one in fraud detection?
If audit desires to be the number one reason for fraud detection, then what does our profession need to do? This blog is written for auditors who desire the audit profession to be the number one reason for fraud detection. I will challenge our current beliefs and methodologies, not to say they are right or wrong but to cause you to think. After all, a key component of professional skepticism is a questioning mind.
