Strategies for Preventing Bias and Improving Investigations

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Strategies for Preventing Bias and Improving Investigations

Investigators are called to uphold standards of integrity and honor. However, as Natalie Lewis, CFE, CPA/CFF, stated during her morning session titled “Recognizing the Impact of Bias and Emotional Intelligence in Investigations” on the final day of the 35th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference, “Bias can harm our judgment and skew our objectivity.” Lewis then walked conference attendees through different types of biases that affect investigations and discussed strategies for preventing bias and building emotional intelligence and social skills to improve investigations. 

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No Need to Write a Book: A Whistleblower’s Guide to Protecting Yourself

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No Need to Write a Book: A Whistleblower’s Guide to Protecting Yourself

At the 35th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference, Clark Bolton, J.D., CFE, an attorney with Morgan and Morgan, presented "No Need to Write a Book: A Whistleblower’s Guide to Protecting Yourself" to attendees. This session provided critical insights and practical advice for Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) on navigating the complex and often perilous journey of whistleblowing. Drawing from his own experiences as a successful health care whistleblower, Bolton offered attendees a comprehensive guide on how to protect themselves when faced with employer fraud. 

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How the IRS Investigates and Combats Metaverse Fraud  

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How the IRS Investigates and Combats Metaverse Fraud  

IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Guy Ficco, CFE, described the metaverse as “ripe for criminal activity” in his session at the 35th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference. He explained that criminals exploit the anonymity, pseudonymous transactions and lack of regulation intrinsic in the metaverse’s makeup to engage in theft, investment fraud, tax evasion, money laundering and other schemes.  

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What CFEs Can Learn from the Alex Murdaugh Fraud Case 

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What CFEs Can Learn from the Alex Murdaugh Fraud Case 

Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) with a penchant for true crime were all ears as Travis Casner, CFE, and Helga Zauner, CFE, CVA, MAFF, examined the Alex Murdaugh case from a fraud investigator’s perspective at the 35th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference. Casner, a partner with accounting firm Weaver, and Zauner, managing director of forensics and litigation services at Weaver, analyzed Murdaugh’s frauds against clients and his own law firm, expounding why the frauds persisted and how Murdaugh finally got caught. 

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On Whistleblowers, and Those Who Kept Quiet

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On Whistleblowers, and Those Who Kept Quiet

Jacqueline Bloink intimately knows what it’s like to be a whistleblower. The anxiety, the fears, the mixed emotions and more. During her time at a health care organization, she uncovered a fraud scheme. She talked a bit about her experience during her virtual presentation, “Health Care Whistleblowing: Top Cases and Trends,” for the 35th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference. 

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Keeping the Story Going: Honoring Investigative Reporter Jeff German

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Keeping the Story Going: Honoring Investigative Reporter Jeff German

At the Tuesday afternoon general session honoring investigative reporter Jeff German, Las Vegas Review-Journal editor Glenn Cook told 35th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference attendees about the time German found himself on the receiving end of a sucker punch from a Mafia associate. People unhappy with German’s reporting smashed his windows and slashed his car tires. But these acts of intimidation didn’t deter German; instead, he confronted the subject of his story one night at the old Sands Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. 

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