Master the legal and investigative protocols to detect fraud and corruption in government procurement.
Forensic auditing has become a critical discipline in safeguarding the integrity of public resources. This is Part 2 in our series on forensic accounting for government auditors. In part one we examined the following learning objectives:
• Define forensic auditing and its role within government auditing/oversight activities.
• Differentiate forensic auditing from traditional audit approaches in government settings.
• Apply forensic methodologies to detect, investigate, and document fraud in public programs.
• Example Scenario
• Use data analytics and technology to identify irregularities in large and complex data sets.
• Example government forensic analysis
Part 2 of this course moves beyond definitions and into practice: how government auditors recognize indicators of fraud, corruption, abuse and conflicts of interest, and how they respond within the legal boundaries that govern public-sector work.
Participants examine the legal considerations that shape forensic engagements — authority and scope, evidence handling, interviewing and coordination with counsel — then work through a detailed municipal procurement-fraud scenario that traces an anomaly from initial red flags through data analytics, vendor and conflict-of-interest research, funds-flow analysis, interviews, reporting and criminal referral.
The course emphasizes that individually compliant transactions can together reveal structuring designed to avoid competitive-bidding thresholds, that relationships and money flows turn an anomaly into supportable evidence, and that findings must state only what the evidence supports.
Lesson Objectives:
• Understanding legal considerations in forensic engagements.
• Strengthening audit quality and public trust by integrating forensic practices into government audit functions.
• Detailed Forensic Scenario
• Appendix on Forensic Tools
2 activities • 1 videos • duration: 2h 24m
Lynn Fountain has over 45 years of experience spanning public accounting, corporate accounting and consulting. 24 years of her experience has been working in the areas of internal and external auditing. She is a subject matter expert in multiple fields including internal audit, ethics, fraud evaluations, Sarbanes-Oxley, enterprise risk management, governance, financial management and compliance. Ms. Fountain has held two Chief Audit Executive positions for international companies. In 2011, as the Chief Audit Executive for an international construction/ engineering firm, she was involved in the active investigation of a joint venture fraud. The investigation included work with the FBI and ultimately led to indictment of the perpetrators and recovery of $13M. Ms. Fountain is currently engaged in her own training and consulting business and is a regular trainer for the AICPA. Ms. Fountain is the author of three separate technical books. “Raise the Red Flag – The Internal Auditors Guide to Fraud Evaluations” was published by the Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation. -“Leading The Internal Audit Function” and -“Ethics and The Internal Auditor Political Dilemma” were published by Taylor & Francis In addition Ms. Fountain was a contributing author to the certification program exam for the National Association of Accountants. She also has certificate programs on various on-line platforms. Ms. Fountain has performed as an adjunct instructor for the School of Business for Grantham University and developed the first internal audit curriculum for the School of Business at the University of Kansas. Ms. Fountain obtained her BSBA from Pittsburg State University and her MBA from Washburn University in Kansas. She has her CGMA, CRMA credentials and CPA certificate (non-active).
