The Honest Truth About Fraud

The author is a retired FBI Agent, attorney, CPA, and keynote speaker. The author first explains fraud and why people commit such a dishonest and illegal act. Next, the author explains the current fraud threat picture that any individual or organization may face. Armed with this knowledge, the author walks the reader through the Fraud Live Cycle: Prevention, Detection, Investigation, Mitigation, and Remediation. This book has particular significance to the many professionals who are responsible for overseeing fraud-related issues, including auditors, general counsels, compliance officers, board members, human resource professionals, chief audit executives, heads of security, criminal and civil investigators, regulators, and frontline managers. 

This book is broken into four easy to read sections to educate anyone responsible for the prevention, detection and investigation of fraud. The author’s unique background of being a retired FBI agent, attorney, CPA, and fraud expert is readily apparent. He authoritiavely lays out the content. Due to his experiences in the investigation of Enron, WorldCom, and many other real-life cases, he uses these examples to show how the content applies in real life.

The opening section provides fraud concepts and definitions for the various professions dealing with fraud. In the second section, the author covers the entire “fraud threat picture” including occupational fraud (misappropriation of assets, corruption, and financial statement fraud), fraud in small organizations, nonoccupational fraud, cyber fraud, money laundering, and tax fraud. The author covers the topic of conflicts of interest and corruption in significant detail.

The third section deals with the fraud life cycle: prevention, detection, investigation, mitigation, and remediation. The fraud life cycle enables the reader to appreciate the ecology of fraud. Through this integrated approach to understanding of fraud, the reader is better equipped to deal with any aspect of fraud in an organization.

The last section focuses on the professionals who are responsible for dealing with fraud including attorneys, CPAs, investigators, and forensic accountants. The content includes various standards and legal requirements that professionals must adhere to when investigating and litigating fraud, and it has particular relevance for forensic accountants.

Vic Hartman, JD, CPA/CFF, CFE is a nationally-recognized antifraud expert. He is a licensed attorney and CPA in Atlanta, Georgia, where he founded The Hartman Firm, LLC. Prior to founding the firm, Vic spent 25 years at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he served as a Supervisory Special Agent and as a Chief Division Counsel. His cases included leadership roles in the Enron and WorldCom investigations, among others. He represents organizations conducting internal investigations, represents whistleblowers, and serves as a forensic accountant. He has been a court-appointed Receiver and Examiner. He is an Adjunct Professor at two universities, has published several articles in professional journals, and regularly speaks on the topic of fraud. For more information about the author, visit www.hartmanfirm.com.