Pointers for Fighting Fraud

The September/October 2014 issue of the Fraud magazine carried an article by Dr Joseph T Wells, Founder and Chairman of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners on 10 pointers of fighting fraud.

Here is the list as:

1     Be nice and smile often –although fraud fighting is an adversarial process, it doesn’t mean you cant be nice….as a matter of fact the best fraud examiners and investigators ive met are also the nicest..they smile a lot, even when staring down crooks..it completely disarms them.

2     Do your homework first – don’t talk to suspects until you have done your homework

3     Develop a fraud theory – in order to investigate a case have a theory of how it happened. Learn how to develop these theories.

4     Don’t overcomplicate a case - ..”if you investigate enough frauds, you will learn that the offender almost always finds the easiest way to commit the crime…”

5     If you don’t know what to do next, stop – if you get to the point where you don’t know what to do next, stop. ..take a breather

6     Don’t overstep your authority – investigations must be guided by law…you cannot coerce people..or obtain documents secretly that you are not entitled to. Nothing good comes out overstepping your authority

7     Always look for more leads – the work of an investigator is to develop leads. People to talk to, documents to review and places to look. If you develop enough leads the case will solve itself.

8     Be very careful about expressing opinions – investigations should result in facts coming out. A report should clearly explain itself.

9     Books and records don’t commit fraud: people do – don’t get carried away by numbers…look for intent.

10   Understand what the framers of the constitution intended – no matter where you come from…the point is that..dont be out there to get someone. “It’s better that 100 guilty persons should escape than one innocent person should suffer” Benjamin Franklin