Audit Office staff pass exam

Sixteen senior staff of the Audit Office, including the Controller and Auditor General, have passed the Certified Fraud Examination of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (A.C.F.E).

The exams were completed in December 2014 and January 2015 after studying 46 topics in four sections throughout 2014 using electronic learning. Study was mostly conducted individually and after hours except for a daily lunch hour group session where ideas were brainstormed and discussed.

The four sections of the exam include:

1. Section 1 – Financial Transactions & Fraud Schemes
2. Section 2 – Law
3. Section 3 – Investigation
4. Section 4 – Fraud Prevention & Deterrence The special audit areas in the CFE exam include:

1. Assets misappropriation:
i. Cash
• Larceny or theft
• Skimming
• Fraudulent disbursements ii. Inventory and all other Assets
• Abuse and misuse
• Larceny or theft

2. Fraudulent Statements
i. Financial Statements
ii. Non-Financial Statements

3. Corruption
i. Bribery
ii. Illegal gratuities
iii. Conflicts of interest

The topics of the CFE course and exam include:

Accounting concepts, Financial statement fraud, Asset misappropriation – cash receipts, Asset misappropriation – cash payments/ disbursements, Asset misappropriation – inventory and other assets, Bribery and corruption, Theft of intellectual property, Financial institution fraud, Cheque and credit card fraud, Insurance fraud, Health care fraud, Consumer fraud, Computer and internet fraud, Public sector fraud, Overview of the legal system, The law related to fraud, Bankruptcy (insolvency) fraud, Securities fraud, Money laundering, Individual rights, The civil justice system, The criminal justice system, Evidence, Testifying as a witness, Analysing documents, Interview theory and application, Covert examinations, Sources of information, Accessing information online, Data analysis and reporting tools, Digital forensics, Tracing illicit transactions, Reporting standards, Understanding human behavior, Theories of crime causation, White collar crime, Organisational crime, Occupational fraud, Fraud prevention programmes, Fraud risk assessment, Fraud risk management, Management’s and Auditor’s Responsibilities, Corporate governance, Ethics for fraud examiners, ACFE Code of Professional Ethics, CFE Code of Professional Standards.

The Audit Office has now set up a Special Audit Unit/Group formed from its newly qualified Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE). Over the coming years, the Audit Office will recruit legal and police experience/expertise to join the Special Audit Unit/Group.

The Special Audit Unit/Group will also make use of new audit laws effective from January 2014 with whistleblowing clauses facilitating the voluntary reporting of fraud and irregularities with legal protection and without repercussions.

The Special Audit Unit/Group will also set up a Samoa CFE Forum/Chapter to network and seek resources and expertise from ACFE when required. The Audit Office CFE’s have received CFE training and qualification and now need the professional experience to translate theory into practice.

The special audit approach in the order of execution will be:

Education, training and better practice guidelines, Prevention and deterrence, Detection, Investigation, Assistance to Prosecution.

The Audit Office believes that the success in the update of financial statements, audits and annual reports to parliament due largely to the cooperation and assistance from Ministries, Public Bodies, Constitutional and Parliamentary Offices and other Offices of the State will be applied again in rolling out its CFE reforms.

This is why the Audit Office is starting with education, training, better practice guidelines, prevention and deterrence before moving onto the hardest phase of detection, investigation and assistance to prosecution.

CFE’s have the ability to:

• Examine data and records to detect and trace fraudulent transactions;
• Interview suspects to obtain information and confessions;
• Write investigation reports;
• Advise clients as to their findings;
• Testify at trial;
• Understand the law as it relates to fraud and fraud investigations;
• and Identify the underlying factors that motivate individuals to commit fraud.

CFE’s on six continents have investigated more than 1 million suspected cases of civil and criminal fraud.

The CFE initiative was organized and arranged by the Controller and Auditor-General, Fuimaono Papalii C.G. Afele after meeting and networking with a number of CFE professionals in his work attachment with the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2010.

Founded in 1988 and with its global Headquarter based in Austin, Texas in the United States, the ACFE is celebrating its 25th anniversary as the world’s largest anti-fraud organization and premier provider of antifraud training and education. Together with nearly 75,000 members, the ACFE is reducing business fraud worldwide and inspiring public confidence in the integrity and objectivity within the profession. For more information, visit ACFE.

com.

The full list of the Audit Office CFEs are:

CERTIFIED FRAUD EXAMINERS IN THE SAMOA AUDIT OFFICE

Fuimaono Papalii C.G. Afele, Lauano Dennis ChanTung, Violet Roebeck Fasavalu, Tia David Pereira, Terence Su’a, Faamatuainu Dennis Margraff, To’omata Sita Leota, Jaslyn Mariner Leota, Marshall Maua, Roseanne Fa’aui, Morina Fa’asisila, Tagaloa Puamefetai, Iosua Leleisiuao, Oceanbaby Penitito, Fred Ah To, Norris Mitchell and Ah Siu Lin.