The Liberian chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners has completed a three-day Anti-Fraud Conference in Liberia, the Anti-Fraud conference was held under the theme, “Together, Reducing fraud nationwide”. At the end of the event, the Deputy Director General for special Audit Lauded the participants and urged them to make maximum use of the knowledge acquired, he indicated that the CFE profession is challenging; citing the nature of the job involved, especially when serving as an auditor, investigator, or law enforcement officer.
Director Seidi pointed out that in the 2022 occupational fraud report released by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, he disclosed that fraud is a global problem affecting organizations in every region worldwide. According to him, occupational fraud is very likely the costliest and most common form of financial crime in the world. He at the same time named occupational frauds, as asset misappropriations, financial statement frauds, and corruption. Director Seidi stated that financial crimes are committed by individuals against the organization that sometimes employed them. The Director General added that about 2,110 fraud cases were detected and reported from 133 countries, during the reporting period, causing total losses of 3.6 billion; averaging 1.7 billion per case.
He mention that of these fraud cases, asset misappropriation schemes were the most common, but least costly, representing (86%, with a median loss of US 100.000), financial statement frauds were the least, but costliest, amounting to (9%, with a median loss of US 593,300), and corruption was the most common scheme in every global region. Additionally, 8% of fraud was also committed through cryptocurrency to pay kickbacks and briberies. The Director cautioned participants to exhibit a high level of integrity, professionalism, and commitment in the discharge of their duties, in order to be respected by the public.
According to the research, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 23% of all global fraud, with corruption responsible for 62% of all occupational fraud schemes in that region.
The Institution Deputy Director General told the participants that his vision for professionalism in Liberia is to make the Internal Audit Agency the home for all professionals. He stressed that in order for the theme of the conference to be achieved, citizens should fight corruption holistically with an aim and adjectives to make sure that corruption is eradicated.
“We have the requisite tools to fight corruption to bring transformation and integrity, there is a need to build relationships among these integrity Institutions like the GAC, LACC, LICPA, and the IAA”. Henadmonished attendees at the conference to remain focused on fighting corruption across the country.
Each participant received a certificate at the conclusion of the three-day Anti-Fraud conference, which started on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, and ended on Friday, October 14, 2022.
Reported by: Joseph N. Kerkula
Email: jnkerkula@gmail.com
Contact: +231777375826
