A Rewarding Partnership in the Fraud Fight

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When it comes to fraud prevention and detection, the future is bright and the vulnerable are safe. It is all thanks to a program called the Justice for Fraud Victims Project (JFVP), a collaboration between Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs), law enforcement and academic programs that began in 2010. The program’s leaders, professors Dr. Marie Rice and Dr. David Glodstein, shared more about the JFVP during their virtual presentation at the 36th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference. 

JFVP programs are in place at Dr. Rice’s and Dr. Glodstein’s schools (Siena College and SUNY Old Westbury, respectively) and five other schools, known as affiliates. The JFVP’s successes are twofold: the program helps possible victims of fraud, including the most vulnerable in the community like senior citizens, the disabled, non-profit organizations and small businesses. The program also helps teach the next generation of anti-fraud professionals about the field. 

The JFVP 

The JFVP model has students, under the supervision of faculty and CFEs, providing pro-bono fraud examinations and forensic accounting services on active cases. Three areas benefit from the work done in the program: 

  1. The community: The program increases fraud examination resources for vulnerable victims. 

  2. The profession: JFVP students often become CFEs and ACFE chapter leaders. 

  3. Law enforcement: JFVP aids in the investigation of smaller cases, which helps improve law enforcement results. 

Implementing the JFVP 

If you are a higher education instructor interested in setting up a JFVP program, Dr. Glodstein would like to assure you “there’s no cookie cutter” with the program. 

“Schools have to figure out what works best for them,” said Glodstein. “What we’re trying to do is build relationships and partnerships with law enforcement agencies, with the community, because the people in the community know what's happening and then they can refer cases. We're also trying to build relationships with fraud fighters and various organizations.” 

Dr. Glodstein said he and Dr. Rice continue to learn what works for different schools and then incorporate that into other schools. 

How Can CFEs Get Involved? 

If you are a CFE reading this who wants to get involved but do not know where to start, you can: 

  • Contact a JFVP affiliate. 

  • Reach out to the Justice for Fraud Victims Project to be matched with an affiliate. 

  • Serve as a subject-matter expert for JFVP affiliates. There may not be a JFVP affiliate in your area, but your expertise could go a long way in an affiliate area where there are not many available CFEs. 

  • Start a student subchapter that can work with local law enforcement agencies. 

“We’re growing,” said Glodstein. “We need CFEs to be actively involved for the JFVP to be successful not only at our schools, but schools throughout the country.” 

Since the JFVP is a non-profit organization, it also relies on the help of donations for funding.  

The Three Models of the JFVP Program 

There are three ways the JFVP program can be set up at schools: 

  1. Partnered protection: Students work as interns or externs with law enforcement agencies. All work is performed at the agency, but agencies are responsible for things like background checks, securing evidence, providing resources and more. Student professional liability insurance may be needed for this module. 

  2. Blended risk: Some risk is shifted from the school to law enforcement. Instead of CFEs working with these groups, law enforcement works with students. 

  3. Robust service: JFVP schools incur the full burden of risk, including all resources and case management. 

Dr. Glodstein said some schools run the JFVP as a student club with just one faculty advisor, so it would be helpful if additional CFEs could volunteer to help supervise students. Meanwhile, Dr. Glodstein’s school’s program is run as a graduate class, while other schools run the program as a clinic. 

Fraud Prevention 

JFVP students are not just involved in fraud cases. They also help with fraud prevention within their communities by delivering presentations at senior centers, chambers of commerce and more. This helps students develop their public speaking skills, which will prove beneficial when they enter the workforce. 

The Obstacles of the Program 

There are, unfortunately, some obstacles that stand in the way of the program’s success sometimes.  

  • Resources: Dr. Rice said there were many schools that participated about a decade ago, but in a two-year period, most of the schools involved abandoned the program. The reason? A shortage of resources. 

  • Time investment: Cases take time. Sometimes this means it can go beyond semesters, and then students could go out of contact through the summer or in the following years. 

  • Length of time to receive evidence and complete investigation. 

  • Data security and chain of custody. 

  • Legal liability. 

  • Student tenure. 

The Successes of the Program 

There are several happy endings that have come about thanks to the Justice for Fraud Victims Project. Dr. Rice reminisced about the University of Alaska Anchorage’s program which helped identify $1,000,000 in alleged embezzlements. 

Both Dr. Rice and Dr. Glodstein have some success stories of students involved in the program. Dr. Rice said one former JFVP student became a partner at a large accounting firm. He still raves about the program, saying that it helped him develop his professional skepticism and ability to empathize with victims. 

One of Dr. Glodstein’s students was not even a forensic accounting major at the graduate level, but the program helped her build a fraud examination passion. She went on to apply for the ACFE’s Ritchie-Jennings Memorial Scholarship and ended up recieving the $10,000 scholarship. After graduation, she began her career working in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ fraud and forensic accounting division and earned her CFE credential. 

If you would like to get involved with the JFVP, you can learn more at the Justice for Fraud Victims Project website.