Accounting Fraud Detection and Deterrence - Case Presentation and Paper

Investigative Project Design:

            This aspect of the three-part assignment will relate to the case you described. Assume you are a fraud examiner available for hire. Provide a discussion of the approach you, as an investigator, would use to look into a lead received about the possible fraud. The discussion should include several steps, and indicate what documents you anticipate will be available and important during your investigation, whether interviews of individuals will be involved, who those individuals might be, and how you might analyze the collected information.

            Assume you have received a general lead, but not all of the facts you laid out in your case presentation. Think through what type of actions may have occurred or might be taking place during your investigation. What records might be a good source to investigate the situation? Oral evidence through interview of individuals can be helpful, but documents are necessary to confirm oral evidence. How can you relate oral evidence to documents you expect to find?

            This investigative design can be provided in prose or narrative writing, or as a clearly defined numbered list. For those with audit background, this list would be much like an audit program--a sequential list showing a supervisor the expected path you anticipate the investigation to take. The Investigative Design can be posted as a separate document to the Investigative Project Design assignment folder in LEO, or as a single document below your Case Presentation paragraphs. If you follow the latter approach, you will be able to view both the case description and your proposed investigative approach on the same document. This might be one-half to one page of narrative. Although not limited, a step-by-step list would probably include no more than ten steps for most cases. When the submitted Investigative Design documents are reviewed, if posted with the case design, only the section about the investigation will be reviewed and graded.

Deterrence Measure Design:

            Considering the case you presented, and the investigative design you offered, what deterrence measures would you suggest to the enterprise you described in your case presentation? Your suggestions will be considered in the context of being both realistic and responsive to the specific presentation you provided. This review of deterrence measures should be written in narrative form. For most cases, the deterrence measures will probably require no more than one full page of text. Post a document with your Case Presentation, Investigative Project Design, and Deterrence Measure Design, to the Assignments folder identified for the Deterrence Measure Design.

            You will be able to see the sequence in a single document as you developed and offered a description of a fraud based on your readings and understanding of that type of case. You will see your own plan how to approach the fraud you outlined, including what complexities might be involved. Then, you will have offered suggestions for how the described fraud could be deterred with systematic changes in policies and procedures within the organization you described. Review of the deterrence measure design aspect of the assignment will be limited to that aspect of the posted document.

Power Point Presentation:

            Develop a slide show providing general information to your colleagues about the general outline of the fraud case you offered, highlights of the investigative design proposed, and the system changes you suggested. The slide show is not necessarily limited in length, but an appropriate slide show would probably include no less than four slides and is not likely to include more than ten.

            The ability to develop a slide show is often very important in one’s career growth. This assignment provides an opportunity for students new to this activity a chance to practice. There is a balance between providing a full explanation in a paper or narrative writing and using a slide show to highlight key issues. As we all have encountered in some venue, often items referenced in a slide show are discussed by an oral presenter in front of a group. Most successful slide shows include bullet lists with the key points that would be discussed if you presented your case before the class or a live audience.

            Slide shows are not a place for a copy and paste of the words from your narrative papers. Also, most of us have been to a presentation and heard the presenter refer to one of the slides as “sort of like an eye chart,” because the text is too small to see and read. Summarize on your slides, rather than including long text.

            If some content in the slides is based on a published source, a citation and reference list using APA formatting would be appropriate. That includes a reference list on the last slide(s) and small citations by the content supported by a reference. For example, you might refer to the Fraud Triangle or an aspect of the COSO Framework in supporting your system enhancements. A reference to those would be appropriate.