Panama Papers’ Reporter Lauds Fraud Examiners for ‘Holding the Powerful Accountable’

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Panama Papers’ Reporter Lauds Fraud Examiners for ‘Holding the Powerful Accountable’

Grueling. Exhausting. Exciting. Satisfying. Bastian Obermayer, the recipient of the ACFE Guardian Award, and the deputy head of the investigative unit of the Munich-based newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, experienced all those emotions as he and his partner, Frederik Obermaier, reported on the Panama Papers. The documents, which an anonymous source emailed to Obermayer, contained personal financial information about wealthy individuals and public officials, and showed that they were using some shell corporations — incorporated via the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca — for illegal purposes, including tax fraud, tax evasion and evading international sanctions.

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Work with Human Behavior to Avoid Breaches and Cybercrime, Says Cybersecurity Expert

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Work with Human Behavior to Avoid Breaches and Cybercrime, Says Cybersecurity Expert

Organizations continue to operate under a cybercrime misconception about their customers, and it’s costing them a lot of money, said cybersecurity expert Theresa Payton, the Monday luncheon keynote speaker. “The conventional wisdom [in cybercrime and fraud] is that ‘humans are the weakest link … That’s why we have security problems.’ I want to change that conversation now.

“I used to feel that way when I was in the financial services industry,” she said. “I’d say, ‘I wish we could just train our customers on the little bit of what I know. My job would be safer and easier to do, and we’d all be happier.’ We’ve been talking this way for decades. We keep asking ourselves, ‘Why do people click on links? Why do people open attachments? … Why do people make these mistakes?’

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Head of U.K. SFO: Diverse Teams Have Led to 3 Life Lessons

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Head of U.K. SFO: Diverse Teams Have Led to 3 Life Lessons

“Fabulous teammates” have taught Lisa Osofsky, the new director of the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office, three top lessons over the years: 1) Make a clear plan. 2) Listen. 3) Find the truth.

“I have worked with teams over time — teams that evolve because the nature of fraud changed with the flattening of the globe. I have learned from veteran investigators,” said Osofksy, the keynote speaker during today’s opening session. “I have learned from young and eager investigators new to the job. I have learned that two or three or four heads are better than one, especially when we’re unraveling fraud. Let me … try to distill what those teams have taught me.” Osofsky received the Dr. Donald R. Cressey Award for a lifetime of achievement in the detection and deterrence of fraud.

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Sentinel Award Recipient Kathe Swanson Finally Receives Closure

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Sentinel Award Recipient Kathe Swanson Finally Receives Closure

Closure. That’s all Kathe Swanson was looking for.

She was the city clerk of Dixon, Illinois, when in October 2011 she discovered some fishy bank statements that implicated longtime comptroller, Rita Crundwell, for embezzling from Dixon. The city fired Crundwell in April 2012. That didn’t give Swanson closure. After an FBI investigation, Crundwell was indicted for stealing $53.7 million from city coffers over two decades. No closure. Crundwell was convicted in February 2013 and sentenced to 19 years and seven months in federal prison. Still no closure.

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Crisis in the Organization? Rebuild Your Culture with Transparency

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Crisis in the Organization? Rebuild Your Culture with Transparency

You know that catastrophe you thought might slam your organization? It happened. You got the dreaded phone call in the middle of the night from your lawyers, your compliance people or (horrors!) the media that (pick one or more): 1. Employees created millions of fraudulent savings and checking accounts on behalf of clients without their consent. 2. Management was bribing officials worldwide to win lucrative contracts. 3. Executives were caught in huge money-laundering and corruption crimes.  

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Technology Might Finally Cause the ‘Great Disruption’

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Technology Might Finally Cause the ‘Great Disruption’

Relax. If you’re a fraud examiner, machine learning probably won’t eliminate your job. Probably. “In terms of your own career, the best advice I can give is to avoid doing something that’s routine and repetitive; you want to be good at something that involves engaging other people or something that involves creativity,” said Martin Ford, the Monday lunch keynoter. Ford is a futurist and author of The New York Times best-seller “Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future.” 

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