BU Student Association for Fraud Examination

02/07/2016

Happy Chinese New Year to all our Chinese friend!. "Kung Hei Fat Choi"

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09/15/2013

The Student Association for Fraud Examination (SAFE) held its first general meeting, September 10, 2013

SAFE and ACFE membership forms were distributed. SAFE dues are $10 per year. Because SAFE is an ACFE student chapter, all SAFE members must also be members of the ACFE. ACFE student dues are $25 per year

The Student Association for Fraud Examination was the ACFE’s first student chapter worldwide.


Chapter Officers were introduced:
President Robert Kusant
Vice President, Meetings Brian Ruth
Vice President, Administration Emily Bostian
Treasurer Eric Hiser
Secretary Erica Harte
Faculty Advisor Dr. Mike Shapeero


Eric Hiser talked a little about his summer internship with the FBI working in Philadelphia as a Forensic Accountant. Terrorism is at the top of FBI’s importance list (since 9/11), while white collar crime is low on the list. Eric spent time going to Federal Court and was able to shoot guns at the FBI’s shooting range. Applications for next summer’s internships should be available in a month or two


Attendance Policy
We have three meetings with speakers scheduled for this semester. It is important that members attend these meetings – most of the speakers travel 2-3 hours to speak to the club. Many of the speakers are either recruiters or work for organizations that recruit at BU. When members do not attend meetings, the speakers notice and it reflects poorly on the chapter and the Accounting program. SAFE has an Attendance Policy: members must attend two of the three meetings with speakers. Members who do not attend at least two meetings will be removed from the chapter for the rest of the year. If you cannot attend a meeting and have an excused absence, email Erica ([email protected])


Webpages to Visit
SAFE has a page – check us out at https://www.facebook.com/ #!/BUStudentAssociationforFraudExamination

The requirements to become a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) are at http://www.acfe.com/become-cfe-qualifications.aspx


Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be September 25. Details will be emailed to you, and posted on the monitors in Sutliff. Our speaker will be Rebecca Reagan from Kearney and Company in Alexandria, VA. Becky is a past President of SAFE

SAFE membership dues will be due as will ACFE membership forms and dues


Erica Harte,
Secretary, Student Association for Fraud Examination

The BU Student Association for Fraud Examination is the ACFE's FIRST student chapter

03/31/2013

March 27, 2013 SAFE meeting minutes

We had Bruce Dietrich from Travelers Insurance Investigative Services come and talk to the SAFE members. Bruce has worked for Travelers for 14 years now and before that he was in law enforcement in Reading, PA for 23 years.

The Travelers Investigative Services department is made up of about 305 people, who exclusively investigate insurance frauds. They were named the best worldwide. They look into possible frauds in a couple of different groupings, including fatality, accident, automobile theft, medical and fire. The team has two bait trailers that are easily movable for any circumstance they may come across that they need to use it. They, however, do not do their own surveillance and always outsource it.

Travelers Investigative Services are the only investigative service group that has their own prosecution unit and a 30 person forensic lab. Bruce mentioned how his job has become easier with technology advances because now it is very easy for different insurance agency to share previous claims that have taken place. They investigate all lines of business.

Not being chained to a desk, making his own schedule, and his job constantly changing is what Bruce enjoys most about his job. He also still does some testifying in court, which he enjoys.

Bruce described to us one of the cases that he has been working on. It was a fire case that happened in 2012 and there was a very similar one that took place with the same person in 2011. It was said to be a kitchen fire that started because a boy, who was house sitting for a couple that was out of town, ran after the dog that got out and a fire started. The Travelers forensic lab looked into the components of the fire and ruled that lighter fluid was used in the fire and that it started in two places. For a fire to start in two places and with lighter fluid, it definitely wasn’t just a simple kitchen fire. Bruce ended up tracking down the house sitter and eventually he confessed to performing the 2012, 2011, and a 2007 fire with a different home owner. The boy also confessed to two automobile thefts. This was a major with for Bruce and his team!

Travelers is always looking for highly motivated people to drive the company forward. Bruce also said that it is important to develop good listening skills as well as communication skills. Bruce doesn’t mind anyone contacting him with any future questions they may have through his e-mail ([email protected]) or by phone at 610-736-2413.

Erica Harte,
Secretary, Student Association for Fraud Examination

02/21/2013

Mike Breon, Senior Director: Investigations & Ethics from Rite-Aid along with Michael Mack, Senior Manager: Investigations, and Lauren Linsenbach, Investigations/Auditor, came to take to Student Association for Fraud Examination on February 19, 2013.
Mike began the presentation by telling us that people are who we need to focus on when using our investigation skills to find fraud. People are the ones committing the frauds and they are the ones that try to convince us there is no fraud present
Mike went on to tell us why management must focus on fraud. He included the following:
• Law
• Fiduciary duty
• Shareholder value (fraud causes the market cap to go down)
• Employee morale
• Future capital
• Stakeholder confidence
• Corporate image
The next point that Mike wanted to emphasize was that fraud is nothing new. He mentioned that the only things that have changed are:
- More business/commerce (more people and opportunities)
- Increase news coverage and accessibility
- Tolerance
- Stakeholder expectation
- Technology advances
- New spins on same schemes
Mike described fraud as a virus because it contains many similarities to a normal virus. Frauds:
• Mutate over time (same schemes with different approaches)
• Can be contagious
• Lay hidden in an organization before it’s devastation is uncovered (usually takes 18 months for a fraud to be detected)
• Can be deadly to an organization
• Can be prevented (sometimes)
Many road blocks are in place in people’s minds that make it difficult for them to detect frauds. Mike listed a couple including:
- I don’t know how to look for it
- I know management- they would never commit fraud
- I don’t have the time
- The manager knows the business better than me; I have to rely on them to determine what is correct (when fraud is hidden)
- The business is very complex
- Management has stonewalled the investigators
- Management intimidates and discredits auditors/investigators- using their power to attack
- Groupthink- wanting to keep the group together and “feeling good”
- Shame (main reason people fight back after they have been caught doing wring)
Mike mentioned to us that many companies, executives, and managers deny that fraud could happen in their organization despite the fact that they believe it is common and happening in other organizations and urgently needs attention. A key point that he wanted us to remember is
• “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
Another thing to look out for is the path of least resistance because that is the way fraudsters normally takes, according to Mike. The people who commit fraud usually fit in to a couple of the following categories:
• Long time employees
• In positions of trust
• Extremely dedicated to their work (never take vacations)
• Always help out as much as possible
• A gambler
• Addicted to drugs or alcohol
• Extramarital affairs
Giving your business card to the administrative assistant of the office you are investigating in because Mike mentioned that they are the ones that know all about the person in the offices, since they always receiving the calls and answering some emails. Another suggestion Mike made was, if possible, take some psychology, sociology, and criminology class because they help diversify you and improve your people skills.
What makes a good fraud examiner?
• Attention to detail
• Inquisitive
• Good communication skills (oral and written)
• Be logical
• Be skeptical
• Be confident but not arrogant
• Willing to continually learn
• See issues from different perspectives
• Be ethical
• Be analytical
• Be organized
• Ability to work with people/build rapport
• Patience
Mike will be holding interviews for the job position and the internship position on campus this coming Tuesday, February 26.
The next SAFE meeting will be March 27th with Travelers. Hope to see you there!

02/19/2013

Don't forget: Mike Breon, Senior Director: Investigations & Ethics for Rite-Aid will be speaking to the Student Association for Fraud Examination TONIGHT, 5 pm, SSC004

It is important to have a good turn-out: Rite-Aid will be recruiting here next week for the first time. Important to show that we are interested in Rite-Aid and fraud investigations

If you have an excused absence, you can email Erica at [email protected]

02/15/2013

Our next meeting is Tuesday, Feb 19, 5 pm, Student Services Center 004. Subject: RE: SAFE slide

Mike Breon will be our speaker. He is the Senior Director, Investigations & Ethics, at RiteAid. Mr. Breon is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, and a Certified Fraud Examiner. He has co-authored IIA fraud programs including “Internal Auditing for Fraud” and “Purchasing Fraud: Auditing and Detection Techniques”.

Pizza and soda will be provided at the meeting

02/12/2013

Quick reminder that the Student Association for Fraud Examination’s first meeting is tonight, 6 pm, Student Services Center 004. Make sure your there!!