Chapter 1
Why the World Needs Forensic Accountants
In This Chapter
Keeping accounting and auditing straight
Figuring out what forensic accounting is
Getting an overview of fraud
Considering where forensic accountants work
Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Bernie Madoff — their names are infamous, and they’re all known to us for the same reason: fraud. Recent estimates indicate that almost $3 trillion is lost globally to occupational fraud and abuse (the kind that occurs within a business) each year. That number would seem hard to believe if we hadn’t all heard about the massive scale of fraud that has occurred at businesses such as Enron.
Investigating fraud can be complex. In a larger engagement, forensic accountants assist in performing various procedures that include reviewing millions and millions of documents, decoding financial information, interviewing scores of people, and gathering background information about key company players. Using technology is critical to the investigative process, and at the end of the investigation forensic accountants report their findings and sometimes ...
