At the Intersection of Filmmaking and Fraud Investigations

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At the Intersection of Filmmaking and Fraud Investigations

Brian Lazarte and James Lee Hernandez are storytellers by trade. But these filmmakers, directors and producers of the HBO docuseries “McMillion$” and the Apple TV+ docuseries “The Big Conn” align their styles closely with that of a fraud examiner. In front of a packed crowd at the 34th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference, the Emmy-nominated pair discussed their process of “investigating an investigation,” conducting effective interviews with both criminals and their victims, and truly understanding the long-term impacts of fraud.

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Becoming a Successful Online Sleuth in Your Investigations

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Becoming a Successful Online Sleuth in Your Investigations

If you Google your name, you will find many tidbits on yourself that are, somehow, public information – even information that you tried very hard to keep private. It may be a nuisance to many, but to investigators, publicly available information or open-source intelligence (OSINT) is quite handy. This was the subject of “Use Public Information to Your Advantage in Fraud Investigations,” an educational session from ACFE Regent and Senior Vice President of J.S. Held LLC, Natalie Lewis, CFE, CPA/CFF.

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Red Flags That Indicate Criminal Activity and How to Enhance Fraud Control

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Red Flags That Indicate Criminal Activity and How to Enhance Fraud Control

As joint operations center manager for the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), Chris Covington, CFE, learned tools and tricks for identifying fraudsters. Pulling from a large dataset generated during the pandemic, in his presentation at the 34th Annual Global Fraud Conference Covington outlined applicable examples of red flags to look for and fraud fighting strategies that Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) can implement in their industries today.

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Cressey Award Winner Reflects on Career and Lessons Learned

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Cressey Award Winner Reflects on Career and Lessons Learned

“It is unusual for those of us in the inspector general community to have people, when you are introduced, to actually stay in the room to listen and talk to you. Usually, people run for the doors,” joked Michael Horowitz, the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), as he addressed another packed session at 34th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference in Seattle on Tuesday.

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Building Your Knowledge of Construction Fraud

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Building Your Knowledge of Construction Fraud

Everyone’s had some experience with construction, whether it’s making repairs around the home, hanging a picture or assembling a Lego set. But just because you’ve picked up a saw or hammered a nail into a wall, you aren’t an expert on construction, Wayne Kalayjian, CFE, PE, told attendees in his early Tuesday morning session, “The Money Pit: Tales of Construction Fraud and How to Prevent It.” As Kalayjian explained throughout his session, construction is a complex field. A fraud examiner without the requisite construction knowledge might as well visit a building site without a hard hat.

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72 Hours to Get it Right: The Clock is Ticking on Your Investigation

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72 Hours to Get it Right: The Clock is Ticking on Your Investigation

You have probably heard the phrase, “Proper planning prevents poor performance.” That is how one of the session panelists introduced the 34th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference session, “72 Hours to Get it Right, Sponsored by FORVIS,” which focused on the role of timeliness when it comes to fraud investigations. FORVIS forensics and valuation services professionals Erik Lioy, CFE, CPA/CFF, Zachary Powers, and Pat Hoan, CFE, CPA, wanted to prove that the actions taken by fraud investigations in the first three days after a potential fraud is uncovered play a crucial role in the direction of the investigation.

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Rethinking How Investigators Detect Lies and Deceit

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Rethinking How Investigators Detect Lies and Deceit

Evoking images of Big Macs and zombies, Dr. David Lieberman captivated more than 5,500 conference attendees during Monday afternoon’s keynote session at the 34th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference.

Dr. Lieberman wove clever, often humorous, storytelling into his presentation on the psychology behind detecting lies, and particularly, what actually works and why it works. A world-renowned psychotherapist in the fields of human behavior and interpersonal relationships, Dr. Lieberman conducts workshops around the world and has authored 13 books; his most recent is titled “Mindreader: The New Science of Deciphering What People Really Think, What They Really Want, and Who They Really Are.”

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