Programme Objective

The course adopts the Harvard-inspired case method approach to help you identify the danger signs of creative accounting so that you may bring your organisation to a higher ethical platform by detecting such fraud and take relevant factors into consideration in order to make ethical decisions.

This highly interactive course provides you the state-of-the-art weapons you need to identify early warnings signs before earnings come out and the flapping red flags before the damage is irreversible. You will learn the 6 categories of accounting gimmicks and the 7 fundamental financial tricks that companies have used to mislead auditors and investors for decades and use that knowledge to boost your organization to a higher ethical platform. You will also get an update on how these accounting gimmicks are being used in today’s technologically advanced, financially savvy investment world.

You will also gain first-hand knowledge and insight into the:

• Top 10 business frauds that rocked our world;
• Top 10 financial fraudsters in the world; and
• Top 10 signs that a company is in trouble in the age of emerging technologies.

The trainer will share with you his real life experiences, easy-to-understand examples, reinforce learning experiences through ‘drama time’ and ‘movie time’, and plenty of illustrations to help explain how participants can uncover revenue tricks, expense traps and liability scams, and consequently better ethical stewards in their accounting careers.

A Pragmatic Analysis of the Most Recent Fraud Cases

Only on this ISCA course, you will get to understand the stories of fallen idols that are unfolding as we speak and the lessons we must quickly learn as ethical stewards of our organisations:

1. FTX (the Fast Rise and Fall of a Crypto Giant);
2. Theranos (a Healthcare Unicorn that Adopted ‘Fake it till you Make it’ Mentality);
3. Hyflux (a Public Listed Singapore Darling with Directors Charged with Alleged Fraud);
4. Keppel Offshore & Marine (a Government Linked Company Given a ‘Stern Warning’);
5. China Evergrande (a Massive Property Developer, Real Estate, Football Club, Plastic Surgery and Electric Vehicles Business Empire that Crashed with ‘3 Red Lines’);
6. Wirecard (The Curious Case of Missing Basic Audit Procedures + where Regulators of the Fintech Industry Choose to Probe the Whistleblowers, Instead of the Culprit); and
7. Goldman Sachs (the Bank that Rules the World and Believes it is Doing “God’s Work”).

Learning Lessons from Business Frauds and Scandals that Rocked the World

We will also examine the business frauds that woke the world and the lessons we may have missed:

8. Lehman Brothers (the World’s Largest Bankruptcy Record Holder);
9. Enron (the Energy Powerhouse that Made Millions of Americans Poor);
10. Worldcom (the Telecommunications Giant that Connected the World);
11. Barings Bank (an Employee in Singapore that Brought Britain’s Oldest Merchant Bank Down to its Knees);
12. Arthur Anderson (the Public Accounting Firm that Made the ‘Big 5’ to ‘Big 4’);
13. American International Group (the Untold Story of an Insurance Giant that was “Too Big to Fail”);
14. Sunbeam (Lessons from the Board that the Blew the Whistle on their CEO and External Auditor); and
15. Bernard Madoff Investment Securities (the Biggest Swindler in the History of Wall Street in the Ponzi World).

Our Singapore Local Stories of Fallen Idols

This course will also cover the learning lessons from the Singapore fallen idols that made headlines and showed there are plenty of leaky pockets and no one is immune to the risk of fraud, bribery, and corruption.

16. Singapore Airlines (how $35 million Flew Away over 13 Years in a Singapore Carrier);
17. Singapore Land Authority (how $11.8 million was Stolen over 2 Years by Public Sector Officers);
18. Asia Pacific Breweries (An Accountant Turned Casino Dragon + Criminal Genius by Swindling $117 million from 4 Banks);
19. Accord Customer Case Solutions (how a Singapore Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winner Devised a Scam to Cheat Mobile Phone Giant Nokia and Brought the High-flying Stock to the Pits);
20. National Kidney Foundation (Who’s to Blame Under the Golden Tap); and many other notable case examples.

In addition to presentation materials and case studies, all participants attending this course will be given the trainer’s proprietary and specially curated ’36 Red Flags – Warning Signs to Combat Fraud, Bribery and Corruption’ which is a comprehensive checklist of warning signs to look out for and a helpful tool for use at your workplace. These items are not available for sale in the market. The checklist is a quick reference guide specially designed by the trainer and copyrighted.

Coverage

This course covers both public and private sectors; start-ups, SMEs, charities and institutions of a public character, multinationals, public listed companies. government ministries, statutory boards, and government-linked companies.

Case Method

Pioneered by Harvard Business School faculty and one of the highlights of the Harvard experience, the case method is a profound educational innovation that presents the greatest challenges confronting leading companies, non-profits, and government organisations—complete with the constraints and incomplete information found in real business issues—and places the student in the role of the decision maker.

The case method approach greatly differs from a lecture-style way of learning. At the heart of the case method are the participants in the class. Participants benefit both directly and indirectly. Directly, they understand more about the cases they cover during the course and the concepts that are applicable in the real world. The indirect benefit, however, is subtler, greater, and more durable. They learn to make decisions under uncertainty and begin to develop the courage to act upon these decisions through ongoing practice.

A Harvard Business School professor, Jan Rivkin best describes the benefits of the case method when he says:

“It’s kind of like a detective story. Something has gone deeply wrong … and your job as chief executive is to figure out whodunnit — but even before that, figure out what you’re going to ask and of whom.”

In other words, what’s going on here, and what should you do to fix it?

Programme Outline

Module 1 – Sharing the Global versus Singapore Experience and Rogue Company Profiling

1. Story Time and Critical Thinking – “The Last Days of Lehman”.
2. Hard Truths – Sharing the Global versus Singapore Experience and Fraud Statistics.
3. What Types of Companies are most likely to use Financial Gimmicks?
4. Top 10 Financial Scandals that Rocked the World.
5. Movie Time – “The Inside Story of a Trader Who Blew a Billion Dollars”.

Module 2 – Fraudsters and the Fraud Triangle

6. Why do Financial Gimmicks Exist? Where are they most likely to Occur?
7. What is the “Fraud Triangle”? Why do Auditors Use this?
8. Practical Case Study – “The Black Hole”.
9. Who are the Top 10 Financial Fraudsters in the World? Looking Inside the Mind of a Criminal.
10. Quiz Time – “Spotting a Fraudster”.

Module 3 – Six Categories of Accounting Gimmicks & Seven Fundamental Financial Tricks and Techniques for Detecting Fraud to Prepare Participants to Become Ethical Stewards

11. What are the 6 Categories of Accounting Gimmicks?
12. What are the 7 Fundamental Financial Tricks that Companies use to Mislead Auditors and Investors?
13. What are the Techniques for Detecting Fraud in the Age of Emerging Technologies?
14. Investing in Credible Data Analytic Tools to Respond to Evolving Expectations and Dynamic Ecosystems.
15. Using Benford’s Law to Identify Possible Suspicious Activities.
 
Module 4 – Financial Reporting Quality: Empowering you with the Knowledge to Boost Your Organization to a Higher Ethical Platform

16. Motivations for Management to Manipulate Earnings and Cash Flow.
17. Identify the Accounting Tricks to Lower Earnings Quality.
18. Identify the Accounting Tricks to Manipulate Cash Flows.
19. Examples of Accounting “Warning Signs”
20. Fraud Risk Management – Who is the “Financial Guardian”?

Module 5 – Who is to Blame + The Ethics Toolkit

21. Re-thinking Corporate Governance – Who is Complicit?
22. How we Enable the Unethical and How to Stop it?
23. Top 10 Signs that a Company is in Trouble.
24. Checklist – 36 Red Flags and Warning Signs to Combat Fraud, Bribery and Corruption.
25. Recap with a Fun Quiz Game Show – “Who Wants to be a Fraud Buster?”

Why Attend this Course? Why this One?

The answer is communication. This course will help you better understand the language of forensic accounting and the ethical requirements that apply to all professional accountants.

The trainer is a highly experienced practitioner and instructor and is well-regarded for his ability to translate complex financial concepts and ethical challenges into plain language, and the use of illustrations, examples and real life experiences to help develop/enhance your understanding of forensic accounting and ethical requirements.

The trainer is able to draw on his full depth of knowledge about accounting, creativity and experience to develop compelling and enjoyable programmes.
 
Training Methodology

Case method style – Story-telling, Fun Facts, Short Case Examples, Real Life Illustrations, ‘Think Tank Time’, ‘Talk to Your Neighbour’, “It’s Drama Time”, “It’s Movie Time” with pre- and post-screening activities, and plenty of team activities such as end-of-day quiz questions (Who Wants to be a Fraud Buster) which will help reinforce the learning concepts and outcomes.

Closing Date for Registration

1 week before program or until full enrolment

Intended For

Anyone who wishes to understand the danger signs of creative accounting, and acquire the tools and techniques to spot a scam. There is no pre-requisite of financial and accounting knowledge and experience for this program.

Programme Facilitator(s)