Poor Ethics:  A Gateway to Ruin By Dorothy Riggs, CFE Recent news reports of the latest Anthony Weiner scandal , once again brings the discussion of ethics to the tips of our tongues.  When it comes to committing acts of questionable behavior Mr. Weiner is definitely not on that crooked path by himself.  Time and time again we hear of politicians, employees, businessmen, educators, husbands, wives and so on who are caught straying away from the straight and narrow. These wandering acts often lead to catastrophe.  Surely no one intentionally sets out on a path of destruction. So, what leads them to a trajectory of ruin?

The Fraud Triangle: Businesses get Burned by the Man-in-the-Middle By: Dorothy Riggs, CFE By: Dorothy Riggs, CFE The fraud triangle involves three major components; pressure, opportunity and rationalization. Mixed together, these ingredients explode causing significant losses for businesses of all classifications. Recent reports indicate that a typical organization loses 5% of annual revenues to fraud.   The Incendiary Mix of Fraud Triangle Ingredients Pressure is felt by potential fraudsters.  It may stem from financial, health, blackmail, psychological, lifestyle dependency or other issues that are of monumental importance to the affected individual.  He or she looks for some way to relieve the pressure by eliminating the immediate issue, if only temporarily, until they can find a more permanent fix. Opportunity is present when the fraudster identifies and takes advantage of circumstances in order to illegally and deceitfully obta...

Bible scripture Malachi 3:8 asks, “Will a man rob God?” The answer is a resounding, YES.  Throughout my lifetime I’ve heard many ministers deliver sermons using Malachi 3:8 as the text for their messages.   However, their sermons all referenced robbing God by means of not paying tithes and offerings.   However, in this day and age neglecting to pay tithes and offerings aren’t the only methods of robbery occurring in houses of God. From a fraud examiner’s point of view another real issue is protecting donations from internal and external thieves. Internal Fraud Cases One would hope that houses of worship would be the last places criminals would defraud.   Unfortunately, that hope would be dashed. The same types of fraud that affect secular entities are also present in religious organizations. Worship centers are affected by fraud schemes more often that we know and in many instances are committed by those least expected, trusted members a...