When Dreams Turn Into Nightmares: How Idealism Can Lead to Fraud in Nonprofits

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When Dreams Turn Into Nightmares: How Idealism Can Lead to Fraud in Nonprofits

In most cases, nonprofits are started with good intentions. Maybe there’s one person who feels a call to improve some area of life around them. Sometimes it’s a group who has a mission to make a difference in the world. So why would anyone try and steal from them? That’s one of the questions ACFE Regent Kenneth Dieffenbach, CFE, addressed in his session, “Fraud in the Nonprofit Sector: Unique Risks and Opportunities,” at the 31st Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference.

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Betrayed Bank Assistant Vice President Embezzles $22 Million as Payback

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Betrayed Bank Assistant Vice President Embezzles $22 Million as Payback

A misplaced paycheck stub started it all. Gary Foster, a former assistant vice president in Citigroup’s internal treasury finance department, said the stub — left next to an office printer — showed that a subordinate made $10,000 more than him.

“I was shocked,” Foster said during an interview with John Gill, J.D., CFE, ACFE vice president – education, at the Wednesday closing General Session. “I was in love with the company. I felt completely devastated. I’m working like crazy. … I felt betrayed.”

During the next two years, Foster’s resentment against Citibank festered. Finally, he realized that he needed some payback for what he deserved.

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Video: ACFE President and CEO Bruce Dorris

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Video: ACFE President and CEO Bruce Dorris

"But even though we couldn't control the quick pace of change caused by the pandemic, we can control how we react to it. As anti-fraud professionals, we may not be on the front lines of this battle like our brave medical professionals, but we do play an important role in combating the consequences of this invisible enemy," said ACFE President and CEO Bruce Dorris, J.D., CFE, CPA, at the 31st Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference.

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Fraudster Video: Gary Foster

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Fraudster Video: Gary Foster

"I looked at the numbers and realized this person's making $10,000 more than I am, and I'm supposed to be the senior person here,” said convicted fraudster* Gary Foster. “So it really pissed me off."

Foster spoke with the ACFE’s vice president- education John Gill, J.D., CFE, at the 31st Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference to tell the story of how he embezzled $22 million from his employer Citigroup.

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When Humanitarians Defraud Those in Need

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When Humanitarians Defraud Those in Need

According to recent data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 79.5 million people around the world were forcibly displaced at the end of 2019. That means 1% of the world’s population are currently refugees. With so many people in need of aid, the work of charitable organizations is more necessary than ever. Unfortunately, aid organizations can prove ripe targets for fraudsters.

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Protecting the Aging Population From Fraud

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Protecting the Aging Population From Fraud

It’s no secret that fraudsters have few, if any, scruples. They are willing to lie to, swindle and cheat anyone who can give them money. As much as we would like to think that certain segments of society should be considered “off-limits” to bad actors, the opposite is normally true. No situation makes this quite as clear as the multitude of scams that target the aging population.

In her session, “Protecting the Aging and Vulnerable Population from Fraud in Uncertain Times,” at the 31st Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference, Nadia Wright, CFE, taught attendees about a number of the fraud schemes that target the aging. Wright, senior fraud investigator for LPL Financial, said most scams fall into one of two categories: the long game or the quick hit.

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Growth in All the Wrong Places: Navigating Fraud Challenges in the Emerging Marijuana Industry

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Growth in All the Wrong Places: Navigating Fraud Challenges in the Emerging Marijuana Industry

“Welcome to campus, for those of you attending this session,” said Justin Breidenbach, CFE, CPA, Associate Professor of Accounting at Ohio Wesleyan University during his Wednesday morning session. Breidenbach streamed his presentation from his office on the empty Ohio campus on the last day of the virtual 31st Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference.

Also an accounting consultant with his own firm, Breidenbach Consulting Services LLC, he wasn’t tasked to actually speak about accounting. “So, how does a CFE, CPA, full-time professor get into something like this?” The “this” he was referring to is marijuana fraud. “There’s a lot of stigma and curiosity about this topic,” he said.

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