ACCA SA hosts "Fraud" seminar
04 Aug 2005
About 75 ACCA members, students, tuition providers and accredited employers sat glued to seats whilst Simon Padgett (FCCA) shared real life examples of business fraud perpetration. The occasion was a seminar entitled "Fraud and Corruption trends", held at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Rosebank on 4th August 2005.
For ACCA members the seminar gave them an opportunity to accumulate some valuable credit towards their Continuous Professional Development (CPD).
Simon Padget (FCCA) captured the attention of his audience by highlighting the many areas where companies can be at risk from business fraud. He offered practical and proven risk management strategies for the prevention, detection and response to fraud in an organisation. It was also frightening to see "first-hand" the techniques used by criminals in defrauding companies and individuals. Armed with the right materials and a devious mind, the audience was shown a video clip on how criminals can very quickly change the details on a cheque to reflect something else.
The underlying theme of the seminar was that being sensitive and knowledgeable about current fraud issues presented the best form of control. If businesses and their employees and management are made aware of current fraud trends and how the frauds are perpetrated, then there is a greatly reduced risk of those businesses and individuals becoming victims to this ever-increasing crime.
All examples that were presented by Simon were real life examples, gathered from fifteen years of experience in the Forensic Investigative field. Nothing was manufactured, including all the forged cheques, spoof web sites, counterfeit ID's, etc.
Underpinning the seminar was an understanding of the latest developments in corporate fraud, and the steps responsible businesses were taking to minimise their exposure to fraud-related loss. Simon also delved into the applicable legislation, with a particular focus on the South African Market. Money laundering under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act was also analysed.
The seminar proved to be extremely informative and also very entertaining. Guests participated interactively and the live case studies made it very "close to home". Standard Bank, Eskom, Joburg City Council, SARS, National Treasury and AT Kearney were some of the companies represented at the seminar.
Simon has 15 years of experience in Fraud Prevention and Investigations, seven years of which has been in South Africa. He left Ernst and Young Forensic Services last year after six years, to focus on the knowledge sharing and transfer process.
After the seminar, guests were treated to a delicious lunch, and spent some valuable time networking.