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Investigating Internal Fraud and Conducting Investigations

Date(s): May 20, 2019 - May 21, 2019
Time: 8:15AM - 4:30PM
Registration Fee: $299.00
Cancellation Date: May 13, 2019
Location: JOHN M. KEEL LEARNING CENTER
City: Austin
Parking Info:

Parking for SAO, Professional Development courses is in Garage B (1511 San Jacinto Blvd.). The Garage signage may read 1511 San Jacinto or Garage B. The elevator in Garage B is not reliable. If you are unable to walk the stairs, please contact the professionaldevelopment@sao.texas.gov for alternate parking arrangements. Handicapped parking is free at the meters around the downtown area.

A course coordinator will Email you a parking permit prior to the course start date. A permit must be displayed or you will be ticketed.


Course Description

Fraud detection and prevention methodologies are no longer a specialty skill set but have become a requirement for most auditors and compliance professionals. Today, auditors and compliance professionals are becoming more involved not only in preventing and detecting fraud, but also in full-scale fraud investigations. Historically, these are not skills that auditors and compliance professionals have learned or have been trained to do. This course will to walk the participants through the steps of a formal fraud investigation, including the most frequently used interviewing and interrogation methodologies. This interactive course will be taught through a combination of lecture, group exercises. and class participation.


Potential CPE Credits: 16.0
Govt Hours: This class meets 16.0 hours of the 24-hour requirement for governmental CPE under Government Auditing Standards (yellow book), in most cases.
Technical Hours: This class meets 16.0 CPE credits of technical training in compliance with Texas Admin. Code Rule 523.102.

Instruction Type: Live
Experience Level: ALL
Category: Auditing

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

  • Overview of fraud fundamentals and basics
  • Fraud Risk Assessment basics
  • Identifying fraud in an organization
  • Learning how to effectively conduct investigations
  • Understanding the fundamentals of interviewing and interrogating
  • Learning how to protect information for legal action
  • Learning how to prepare fraud examination reports

 

Outline

Fraud Basics Overview

  • The Fraud Triangle
  • Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) 2018 Report to the Nations
  • Fraudsters—characteristics and behaviors

Fraud Risk Assessment Basics

  • Why conduct a Fraud Risk Assessment?
  • Fraud risk as part of an overall Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Program
  • Potential obstacles and pitfalls for Fraud Risk Assessments
  • Best practices in Fraud Risk Assessment
  • Internal Audit’s role

The Fraud Tree: Schemes and Scenarios Overview

  • Corruption
  • Financial statement fraud
  • Asset misappropriation—cash
  • Fraudulent disbursements
  • Asset misappropriation—inventory and other assets

Identifying Fraud

  • Red flags common to various fraud schemes
  • Identifying red flags during the audits and reviews
  • Analyzing red flags for actual fraud
  • Fraud auditing vs. controls auditing

Investigations

  • Planning and conducting an investigation
  • Analyzing documents
  • Covert investigations
  • Sources of information
  • Forensics
  • Useful resources for investigations

Interviewing and Interrogating

  • Differences between an interview and an interrogation
  • Interview techniques
    • Understanding pressure, motive, and opportunity
    • Preparing for the interview
    • Confrontation styles
    • Sharing and amplification questioning
    • Specialized questioning
    • Interviewing witnesses vs. potential suspects
    • Formal vs. informal
  • Interrogation techniques
    • Reid/Wicklander/ACFE methodologies
    • Formulating the interrogation questions
    • Suspect behavior analysis
    • Theme development
    • Handling denials, objections, and passiveness
  • Handling confessions
    • Converting oral to written
    • Safeguarding the confession

Using Data Analytics for Investigations and Fraud Auditing

  • Scoping the use of data analytics
  • Identifying the data to be mined
  • Identifying investigation objectives
  • Acquiring the data
  • Vetting the data

Reports and Reporting

  • Types of reports
  • Report structure and format
  • Trial-ready reports
  • Characteristics of a good report
  • Common mistakes
  • Visual aides
  • Legal considerations

Instructors

Mary Breslin

Mary Breslin is the Founder of Verracy Training & Consulting and specializes in Internal Audit transformations, Operational and Financial Auditing, Fraud Auditing & Investigations, and Corporate Accounting.

 

Ms. Breslin’s career spans over 20 years in Internal Auditing, Management and Accounting for companies such as ConocoPhillips, Barclays Capital, Costco Wholesale, Jefferson Wells and Boart Longyear. With significant International experience, she has managed audit programs in more than 50 countries. Most recently, Ms. Breslin held the title of Vice President and Chief Audit Executive where she transformed a checklist audit function into a value-add audit department which regularly delivered measurable business results through the use of risk-based auditing, data analytics, continuous education and skill development for her leadership team and staff.

 

Mary was an early adopter of analytics for audit and has been utilizing data analytics in her career in both audit and fraud work for over 15 years. She has transformed the capabilities of audit functions using data analytics programs using ACL, IDEA and Arbutus Analyzer. Through her expertise and guidance, she has helped large global organizations leverage analytics to significantly increase coverage, automate continuous auditing and monitoring, and actively fight fraud.

 

Additionally, Ms. Breslin has extensive Fraud Audit and Investigation experience and has conducted major fraud investigations on multiple continents including large scale federal cases domestically. She has developed and implemented fraud auditing programs in various industries focused on both accounting and operations.

 

Ms. Breslin attended Rutgers University and received her BS in accounting, and an MBA from the University of Phoenix while living and working overseas. She is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She maintains memberships in the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), ISACA, the Society of Corporate Compliance (SCCE), and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and is currently an instructor and conference speaker for the IIA, The ACFE and ISACA.


Additional Information

TAC Rule 523.142(g) requires the CPE Sponsor to monitor individual attendance and assign the correct number of CPE credits. Participants will be asked to document their time of arrival and departure in compliance with this Rule. Additionally, attendance will be monitored throughout the day and CPE certificates will reflect actual attendance of each participant.

If you are making travel plans to come to Austin, we recommend making "refundable" air and hotel reservations or waiting until 14 days before the class to actually book your reservations. Courses are occasionally canceled or rescheduled due to low enrollment. We determine whether a course has enough participants 16 days prior to the course date. If we cancel or reschedule, we will email the participant and his or her billing contact no later than 14 days before the original class date.

The course coordinator will contact you with parking information. Handicapped parking is free at the meters around the downtown area.

Vending machines with Coca-Cola products and various snack items are available. There is also a refrigerator and microwave in our coffee bar area. Feel free to bring in your own drinks and food if you prefer.

You might want to bring a light sweater or jacket, as room temperatures vary.

To see answers to our Frequently Asked Questions, visit http://www.sao.texas.gov/training/faq.html.