Preface
The catastrophic business failures of this decade have been revealing on many levels. From my professional perspective as a forensic accounting investigator, I couldn’t help but notice the need across much of the business community for a better grasp of the scope and skills of the forensic accounting investigator. Most people seemed to be struggling. How could these massive frauds have occurred? How can such events be deterred—if not wholly prevented—in the future? Who is responsible for deterrence, detection, and investigation? Is it a matter of systems, of attitudes, of aggressive internal policing, of more stringent regulatory oversight, of “all of the above,” and more still? What methods are effective? What should an auditor, a corporate director, an executive look for? There were far more questions than answers, and all the questions were difficult. Forensic accounting investigation had become important to the larger business community and the public. They were relying on it to solve problems, deter new problems, and contribute to new, tougher standards of corporate behavior and reported information. But all concerned, from CEOs to financial statement auditors, still have much to learn about the relatively new discipline of forensic accounting investigation.
The keynotes of the past ten years are tough new legislation and regulation to strengthen corporate governance and new oversight of the financial community, corporations, and auditors. Also, the accounting profession ...
