Abbreviation | ACFE |
---|---|
Formation | 1988 |
Legal status | Professional organization |
Headquarters | Austin, Texas |
Coordinates | 30°16′19.7904″N97°45′0.5256″W / 30.272164000°N 97.750146000°W |
Region served | Worldwide (180 countries) |
Membership | More than 92,000 |
Chairman | Joseph T. Wells |
President | John D. Gill |
Main organ | Board of Regents |
Website | www |
[1] |
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) is a professional organization of fraud examiners. Its activities include producing fraud information, training and tools. Based in Austin, Texas, the ACFE was founded in 1988 by Joseph T. Wells. The ACFE grants the professional designation of Certified Fraud Examiner [2] (abbreviated CFE).
Joseph T. Wells founded the ACFE and is its chairman. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma, he worked for ten years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, during which time he investigated the former Attorney General John N. Mitchell's involvement in Watergate. [3]
In addition to his duties as chairman, Wells writes, researches and lectures to business and professional groups on white-collar crime issues. He has written books and articles on fraud prevention and detection. His writings appear in professional journals. [4]
The ACFE runs a fraud museum containing exhibits linked to famous frauds, which is open to the public. [5] America's Guide to Fraud Prevention, written by the famous confidence trickster Steve Comisar, is on display in the ACFE fraud museum. The book is considered a piece of fraud history. [6]
According to a 2014 report, companies lose 5% annually due to fraud, and most often this happens in the accounting department. [7] In a 2018 report, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners stated that up to 28% of small businesses have been involved in some form of fraud, with the figure ranging from 22% to 26% for larger companies. [8] [9] As a result of research conducted by the ACFE in 2022, it was found that professional fraud leads to losses in excess of $3.6 billion annually, especially as a result of misappropriation of assets. [10]
Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys this information to a variety of stakeholders, including investors, creditors, management, and regulators. Practitioners of accounting are known as accountants. The terms "accounting" and "financial reporting" are often used interchangeably.
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law or criminal law, or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements.
KPMG International Limited is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. The name "KPMG" stands for "Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler". The initialism was chosen when KMG merged with Peat Marwick in 1987.
The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. The crimes are believed to be committed by middle-class individuals for financial gains. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation". Typical white-collar crimes could include wage theft, fraud, bribery, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, labor racketeering, embezzlement, cybercrime, copyright infringement, money laundering, identity theft, and forgery. White-collar crime overlaps with corporate crime.
Cybercrime encompasses a wide range of criminal activities that are carried out using digital devices and/or networks. These crimes involve the use of technology to commit fraud, identity theft, data breaches, computer viruses, scams, and expanded upon in other malicious acts. Cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems and networks to gain unauthorized access, steal sensitive information, disrupt services, and cause financial or reputational harm to individuals, organizations, and governments.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom that investigates and prosecutes serious or complex fraud and corruption in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The SFO is accountable to the Attorney General for England and Wales, and was established by the Criminal Justice Act 1987, an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Forensic accounting, forensic accountancy or financial forensics is the specialty practice area of accounting that investigates whether firms engage in financial reporting misconduct, or financial misconduct within the workplace by employees, officers or directors of the organization. Forensic accountants apply a range of skills and methods to determine whether there has been financial misconduct by the firm or its employees.
Founded in 1904, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (ACCA). It has 240,952 members and 541,930 future members worldwide. ACCA's headquarters are in London with principal administrative office in Glasgow. ACCA works through a network of over 110 offices and centres in 51 countries - with 346 Approved Learning Partners (ALP) and more than 7,600 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide employee development.
The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), or the Postal Inspectors, is the federal law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. It supports and protects the U.S. Postal Service, its employees, infrastructure, and customers by enforcing the laws that defend the United States' mail system from illegal or dangerous use. Its jurisdiction covers any crimes that may adversely affect or fraudulently use the U.S. Mail, the postal system or postal employees. With roots going back to the late 18th century, the USPIS is the oldest continuously operating federal law enforcement agency.
The Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) is a credential awarded by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) since 1989. The ACFE association is a provider of anti-fraud training and education. Founded in 1988 by Dr. Joseph T Wells. The ACFE established and administers the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential.
Forensic accountants are experienced auditors, accountants, and investigators of legal and financial documents that are hired to look into possible suspicions of fraudulent activity within a company; or are hired by a company who may just want to prevent fraudulent activities from occurring. They also provide services in areas such as accounting, antitrust, damages, analysis, valuation, and general consulting. Forensic accountants have also been used in divorces, bankruptcy, insurance claims, personal injury claims, fraudulent claims, construction, royalty audits, and tracking terrorism by investigating financial records. Many forensic accountants work closely with law enforcement personnel and lawyers during investigations and often appear as expert witnesses during trials.
Crime rates in Singapore are some of the lowest in the world, with petty crimes such as pickpocketing and street theft rarely occurring, and violent crime being extremely rare. Penalties for drug offences such as trafficking in Singapore are severe, and include the death penalty.
Frankensteins of Fraud is a book written by Joseph T. Wells, founder of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Subtitled The 20th Century's Top Ten White-Collar Criminals, the book profiles ten famous criminal frauds. From Charles Ponzi, the father of the Ponzi scheme, to Crazy Eddie, this books talks about the crimes committed by these fraudsters and the consequences of those crimes. After publishing the book, Wells donated the materials that he'd collected during his research to establish the Fraud Museum in Austin, Texas.
The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau is a police unit in the United Kingdom responsible for gathering and analysing intelligence relating to fraud and financially motivated cyber crime. The NFIB was created as part of the recommendations of the 2006 National Fraud Review, which also saw the formation of the National Fraud Authority. The NFIB was developed and is overseen by the City of London Police as part of its role as a national lead for economic crime investigation, and is funded by the Home Office.
Steven Robert Comisar is an American convicted con man and extortionist. Comisar was in federal prison and was released April 27, 2018.
Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) is a specialty credential in financial forensics issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
Dr. David Paul Weber is an American criminalist, and the former Assistant Inspector General for Investigations at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He is the Principal Investigator of a $2.6 million grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to test various white collar crime interventions concerning elder financial exploitation and high-tech crime. He is a Professor of the Practice in Fraud and Forensic Accounting at the Perdue School of Business, Salisbury University. In the past, Dr. Weber was a whistleblower who reported allegations about foreign espionage against the stock exchanges, and misconduct in the Bernard L. Madoff and R. Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme investigations. In June 2013, the SEC settled with Weber his whistleblower protection and U.S. District Court lawsuits, paying him one of the largest federal employee whistleblower settlements ever. In 2014, In Bed with Wall Street author Larry Doyle named Dr. Weber as one of his "top 5 whistleblowers". On July 30, 2015, Weber was recognized by six United States Senators and one member of the House of Representatives at the First Congressional Celebration of National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. On August 5, 2021, Dr. Weber met with the President, Speaker of the House, and Senators at the signing of H.R. 3325, the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal for those officers who lost their lives at the Capitol Insurrection, as he represents one of the deceased police officers and his widow. Ultimately, he was successful in having his client Police Officer Jeffrey L. Smith designated as having died in the line of duty by the District of Columbia in March 2022, and in August 2023 by the U.S. Department of Justice. Dr. Weber is now a forensic accounting professor at the Perdue School, Salisbury University. As part of his teaching duties, he is a special investigator for the Maryland State's Attorneys Offices in two adjoining counties, and a Virginia financial crimes state prosecutor in the neighboring Virginia county. He supervises his students who act as intern investigators on financial crime cases.
The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau – informally known as the Fraud Squad – is a specialised division of Ireland's national police force, the Garda Síochána, that investigates economic crimes. The Bureau operates as part of the Garda Special Crime Operations branch and works alongside other sections of the force, as well as the external Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), an agency tasked with investigating white-collar crime. The Economic Crime Bureau is responsible for the investigation of serious financial fraud and corruption. It was established in April 1996 and is based at Harcourt Square, Dublin 2. The GNECB is headed by an officer of Detective Chief Superintendent rank, who reports to the Assistant Commissioner of Special Crime Operations.
Mark J. Nigrini, born in Cape Town, South Africa, is an Associate Professor of Accounting at the College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia.
The Fraud Advisory Panel is a UK charitable organisation. Incorporated in 2001, the Panel focuses on offering advice and education to the general public on how to mitigate and avoid fraud. Panel members have provided evidence to the House of Commons Tresury Select Committee and frequently participate in government consultations and commentary on the television, radio, and newspapers.