Monrovia – The Managing Partner of Baker Tilly Liberia, Theo Joseph, has stated that recent crackdown on bribery and prosecution of cases under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has made the prevention and mitigation of bribery and corruption a top priority for businesses and countries worldwide.
He was making a remark on Wednesday June 29, 2016 at the opening session of a three-day training seminar of the Liberia Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) at the Liberia Chamber of Commerce in Monrovia.
Theo Joseph used the occasion to drum support for the ideal of 45,500 CFEs worldwide; 80 of whom are in Liberia – he said it is the quest of Liberian CFEs to “help protect the global economy, and ensuring the promotion of corporate and public integrity by leading the fight against fraud…”
Mr. Joseph pointed out that violent crimes account for 95% of all criminal cases worldwide, whereas only 5% of financial losses incurred as a result of these crimes. However, white collar crimes (economic crimes) accounts for 5% of all criminal cases worldwide but affects 95% of financial losses suffered by individuals, businesses and Governments.
He opined that traditional accounting is in transition, which has created the need for additional experts to respond to the critical need of detecting and preventing fraud.
Topics covered during the three-day seminar included: Conducting an Effective Background Check in Criminal Investigation; Developing an Integrated Anti-Fraud and Compliance Ethics Program; Anti Money Laundering in a Digital Currency Environment; Documenting Evidence and Testifying as an Expert Witness; The Fraud Examiners Mindset: Rethinking How To Plan Analyze and Investigate Fraud cases in the 21st Century; Trends and Practices to Address Risk Management and Compliance, among others.
Mr. Joseph especially appealed to the law enforcement agencies in Liberia to always incorporate into their team of investigators – Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE) whenever they are investigating financial crimes. He stated that when a team of detectives, accountants, lawyers and certified fraud examiners team up to investigate financial crimes they rarely lose a case.
He expressed hope that the seminar will provide varieties of skills to help participants conduct successful fraud investigations.
The computer evolution has made fraud investigation even intractable and building capacities of professionals in evidence collection, legal and other technical skills as contained in this training seminar, makes it the more relevant for Liberia, Mr. Joseph said.
Other facilitators at the Seminar include Price Waterhouse Coopers resident partner Taweh Vekai, Police Director Chris Massaquoi, LRA Commissioner Elfreda Tamba, LRA Legal Counsel Max Duncan, Financial Intelligent Unit’s Executive Director Alex Cuffy and Mr. Jose’ Brito USAID Consultant to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission.