The Forensic Audit

Course review:

This course will equip delegates to fight white collar crime within their organisations. It focuses on fraud and the key controls to prevent and detect it, whilst also dealing with investigation techniques and what is required for a successful prosecution. At the end of the course delegates will have an incisive analysis of how fraud occurs within an organisation together with the latest techniques for fighting it.

Course Content:

Forensic Auditing Overview

• Definitions, fundamentals and skills
• The role of audit - public perceptions compared with practical reality
• Reactive and proactive forensic audits
• Auditing and forensic auditing compared and contrasted
• Assessing quantum of loss
• Practical applications of forensic auditing expertise
  • Fraud investigations
  • Claims
  • Expert witness and litigation support

White Collar Crime and Business Risk

• The black economy - awareness and profiles
• Money laundering component and the proceeds of crime
• Governance and business risk overview
• Fraud theory (definitions, types and scale)
• Limitations of traditional audit techniques
• Strategic fraud prevention plan

Detection and the Forensic Audit Toolkit

• Deterrence, criminal psychology and the 'perception of detection'
• Use of audit to deter fraud - the appropriate questions
• Data mining tools, Benford's law and forensic application
• Key risk indicators
• Covert detective techniques

Investigations and Expert Witness Testimony

• Use of publicly available information
• Use of documentary evidence
• Interviewing in a stressed environment - the five possible stages of a fraud interview and how best to handle each stage
• Assessing quantum of loss
• Reporting
• Practical case-management tips
• Dealing with lawyers and handling court situations