FBI's Financial Crimes Report to the Public
May
2005
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigates matters
relating to fraud, theft, or embezzlement occurring within or
against the national or international financial community. These
crimes are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of
trust, and are not dependent upon the application or threat of
physical force or violence. Such acts are committed by individuals
and organizations to obtain personal or business advantage. The FBI
focuses its financial crimes investigations on such criminal
activities as corporate fraud, health care fraud, mortgage fraud,
identity theft, insurance fraud, and money laundering. These are the
identified priority crime problem areas of the Financial Crimes
Section (FCS) of the FBI.
The mission of the FCS is to oversee the investigation of
financial fraud and to facilitate the forfeiture of assets from
those engaging in federal crimes. The FCS is divided into four
units: the Economic Crimes Unit, Health Care Fraud Unit, Financial
Institution Fraud Unit, and the Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering
Unit.
The Economic Crimes Unit is responsible for significant frauds
targeted against individuals, businesses and industries to include:
corporate fraud, insurance fraud (non-health care related),
securities and commodities fraud, telemarketing fraud, Ponzi
schemes, advance fees schemes, and pyramid schemes.
The Health Care Fraud Unit oversees investigations targeting
individuals and/or organizations who are defrauding the public and
private health care systems. Areas investigated under health care
fraud include: billing for services not rendered, billing for a
higher reimbursable service than performed (upcoding), performing
unnecessary services, kickbacks, unbundling of tests and services to
generate higher fees, durable medical equipment fraud,
pharmaceutical drug diversion, outpatient surgery fraud, and
internet pharmacy sales.
The mission of the Financial Institution Fraud Unit is to
identify, target, disrupt, and dismantle criminal organizations and
individuals engaged in fraud schemes which target our nation's
financial institutions. Areas investigated in the financial
institution fraud arena include: financial institution failures,
insider fraud, identity theft, check fraud, counterfeit negotiable
instruments, check kiting, loan fraud, and mortgage fraud.
The Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Unit promotes the strategic
use of asset forfeiture and ensures field offices employ the money
laundering violation in all investigations, where appropriate, to
disrupt and/or dismantle criminal enterprises. The term, "follow the
money," leads to the identification of assets which can be forfeited
and lead to the effective and efficient disruption and dismantling
of illegal money laundering apparatuses.
Their report (see link below) addresses the various priorities of
the FBI in financial crimes and the FBI's efforts to combat them.
Each section provides an overview, statistical accomplishments, and
successful investigations for the identified crime problem. Where
appropriate, each section also provides ways in which the public can
protect themselves from being victimized.
Financial Crimes Report to the Public May 2005
CFE Prep Course and
Exam Program
The ACFE launched a program to encourage completion of
the CFE Prep Course and Exam in 2005. The “CFE Challenge”
will provide continued encouragement including a timeline to
keep members on track to successfully complete the CFE Exam by
a date they’ve selected. There is a reward tied to completing
the exam as quickly as possible.
Complete and
submit by August 31, $500 voucher for ACFE event or self-study.
Complete and
submit by October 31, $300 voucher for ACFE event or
self-study.
Complete and
submit by December 31, $100 voucher for ACFE event or
self-study.
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2005 - 2006
OFFICERS &
DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT
Steve
Hooper, CIA, CFE, CCSA
Clerk of the Circuit Court
Hillsborough County, FL
(813) 276-2029 x7648
VICE PRESIDENT
Christine Dever, CPA, CFE
Ruth Eckerd Hall, PACT, Inc.
(727) 712-2762
SECRETARY
TREASURER
Laura Krueger Brock, CFE, CPA
Cherry, Bekaert, Holland, LLP
(727) 822-8811
DIRECTOR
Mark Dubina,
CFE
Florida Department of
Law Enforcement
(813) 878-7366
DIRECTOR
Ellen Wilcox, CFE
Florida Department of
Law Enforcement
(727) 298-2482
DIRECTOR
Penny Borjas, CFE, CIA CHAPTER TRAINING
Wayne Boytim, CFE
City of Tampa
Internal Audit
(813) 274-7167
JOIN THE TAMPA BAY CHAPTER
Membership in the Tampa Bay Chapter costs only $20
to $25. There are four categories of members: CFE, ACFE Associate,
Chapter Affiliate and Student. For more info, visit our web
site.
|
 April
12th Dinner Meeting
The Chapter welcomed back a very seasoned
colleague, Mark Kolman, who gave a talk on “Auditing for Financial
Fraud”. Mr. Kolman has been speaking on various audit and control
topics since 1984, often on a national basis for the IIA. Mark began his remarks by stating that
financial fraud is all about money, people, culture and history.
Financial statements, in particular are prone to frauds involving:
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Fictional revenues,
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Fraudulent timing of entries, and,
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Concealed Liabilities and Expenses
The auditor has to take a step back, and ask,
“Does it make sense?” Questions an auditor might ask include:
Mark stressed that the business or industry
should be audited and not just the concern’s books. In that sense,
further questions include:
As such, Mark made an analogy of a person
looking for six honest men known as: What, Why, When, How, Where
and Who. Mr. Kolman then went over various large
historic frauds, detailing what went wrong with:
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Credit Mobilier (a fraud dating to the 1860’s
involving the first American transcontinental railroad),
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Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Company (1963),
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ZZZZ Best, Inc.,
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Crazy Eddy Antar,
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Regina Vacuum,
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PharMor
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Enron, and finally,
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WorldCom.
After discussing each case in detail, Mr.
Kolman talked about the four stages of shock upon the discovery of a
fraud: denial, dismay, anger then empathy. Keys to fraud detection include: knowing the
signs, being on the lookout, develop an audit test to cover it and
thoroughly resolve suspicious indicators. How do you recognize fraud? Mark suggested:
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Talk to people,
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Use your experience,
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Use and compare any industry information,
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Use the internet as a resource,
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Rely to the degree appropriate on
management’s experience,
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Check out what the Security unit has to offer
and leverage resources,
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Keep current on the industry by reading
books, attending seminars, etc.
Sometimes, to catch a thief, you just have to
ask. Develop fraud questionnaires. Mr. Kolman related that the
March 2000 Journal of Accountancy had an excellent article on the
matter.
Another resource is CAATS, or Computer Assisted
Audit Tools. These techniques look for comparisons and
relationships. Compare rates, ratios to industry standards and
benchmarks. Compare actual data with expected results.
Mr. Kolman finished his remarks with some
useful resources available on the internet:
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IIA.org,
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CFEnet.com
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Auditnet.org, and,
-
it audit.org.
Submitted by:
Roland Rodriguez, Chapter Secretary |
ACFE
Visitors
Annual Meeting