Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination

Syllabus
Course Overview

Everyday around the world, thousands of businesses are victimized by fraud. Fraud
examination and forensic accounting provide tools and techniques for preventing,
deterring, detecting, investigating and remediating bad acts grounded in financial gain.
In this course we are going to help participants answer the questions: Who commits
fraud?, How? and Why? We will also help in the development of skills that may be used
for identification of fraud and catching fraudsters including:

1. Identifying common red flags for the individual who commit typical frauds, the
accidental fraudster.
2. Differentiating between accidental and predator fraudsters, recognizing the
nefarious nature and costly impact of the predator fraudster, as well as
identifying basic organizational control structures used to prevent fraud.
3. Examining evidential matter, both electronic and paper formats including “big
data” to determine the: who, what, when, where and how of fraudulent acts.
4. Reviewing the elements involved in money laundering when concealing illicit
and illegal sources of financial gain. Providing possible solutions to effectively
combating sophisticated cross-jurisdictional crime.
5. Identifying the characteristics of a whistle-blower and discuss the importance of
whistle-blowing as an anti-fraud measure.

This course includes a combination of videotaped lectures, assigned readings,

discussions, quizzes, and occasional case study assignments. There will also be a final
exam that will cover information from the lecture videos. Each week will be released
one week at a time. Below is the schedule.

Weeks and Themes:

Week 1: The Accidental Fraudster

 Homework: Discussion Forum, Quiz 1.

Week 2 : The Predator Fraudster

 Homework: Discussion Forum, Quiz 2.

Week 3: Big Data, Benford's Law and Financial Analytics

 Homework: Discussion Forum, Quiz 3.

Week 4: Cyber-Crime and Money Laundering: Contemporary Tools and Techniques.

 Homework: Discussion Forum, Quiz 4.

Week 5: Big Data, Benford's Law and Financial Analytics

 Homework: Discussion Forum, Quiz 5.

 Final Exam

Suggested Readings

Although the lectures are designed to be self-contained, we recommend the following

workbook to students who are interested in Continuing Professional and Education
credits.

 Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

 (Richard Dull and Richard A. Riley, Jr.)

The following books are recommended, but do not required.

 Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination

 by Kranacher, Riley and Wells

 Fraud Examiners Manual (ACFE)

  Accounting Information Systems, 10th edition (Gelinas, Dull and Wheeler)

  Benford's Law: Applications for Forensic Accounting, Auditing, and Fraud

Detection

Most of these books are linked to either Amazon or the ACFE website where they can
be purchased or rented.

Course Etiquette (Netiquette)

Below you will find some basic rules of etiquette. Please keep these guidelines in mind
when communicating with your peers and the instructors of this course.

 Maintain professional, scholarly behavior at all times. Remember that

discussions are being looked over and flagged for inappropriate content. We
reserve the right to remove individuals for unprofessional behavior from the
course.
 Unprofessional behavior may be described as any form of bullying, name
calling, offensive rants etc. Any negative discussion about the quality of course
materials, Coursera, or any person or group of persons can be grounds for
being removed from the course.
 Disagree with others' opinions, and show your logic, cite sources etc. Analyze
their argument. Do not attack them personally.
  Use "Reply" buttons and links. If you are making statements directed at what an
individual has posted, use the "Reply" function so your reply will be posted in
context, directly underneath theirs. If you just click "Post," no one will be able to
tell where your comments were directed.

General Course Questions and Technical Problems

All questions and complaints about the course (either technical or informational
problems) will be addressed in the forums labeled General Course Questions and/ or
Technical Problems All posts in either forum will be addressed to the students within 48
hours either within the forums themselves or as a general announcement to the class.

Grading Policy

Course grades are based upon the following criteria

Quizzes (10 points each).…………...……………………………....50

Final Exam ………………………………………………………….…50

Total ...........................................................................................100

Course participants need to achieve at least 80% on the quizzes and 70% of the final
exam in order to successfully complete the course.