| More than 140 Internal Auditors, drawn from almost 40 organizations across the country attended a key fraud detection workshop, but the absence of police officials and a small showing of government officials has drawn the ire of organizers.Yesterday, President of the Institute of Internal Auditors (Guyana Chapter),Cheap NFL Jerseys China, John Seeram, was “disappointed”, noting the reports of fraud within the police and government agencies should have made it imperative that there be more interest in the event.It was the largest gathering of auditors since the IIA started a series of workshops last year.Just minutes before,NFL Jerseys From China, Ramesh Dookhoo, Governor of the IIA Guyana Chapter, told the auditors that it is his view that 95% of all detected frauds in Guyana goes unpunished because of the slow pace of the justice system and the lack of any forensic accounting services in the country.“The most important aspect of the non-prosecution of fraud is the loss of face by institutions and companies, the unpreparedness of institutions to deal and disclose fraud, and the lack of recognition of the responsibility on the part of the audit committee,” Dookhoo said in the feature presentation at the Tower Hotel. Guyana, as a developing nation, needs to further develop its culture of accountability and integrity both in the personal lives and in institutions.Dookhoo, who is also the President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), and an executive at Banks DIH Limited, said that for institutions to prevent frauds, they would have to possibly include hotline numbers, segregation of duties, competitive bidding,Wholesale NBA Jerseys China, an Appropriation Committee and a formal list of approved vendors.He stressed that for Guyana to create a better environment for the prevention and detection of fraud, there should be openness in acceptance that there is a problem in developing an anti-fraud policy in the company and in criminal prosecution and subsequent strengthening of systems designed to create more accountable organizations from the bottom up.The officials called for installation of an Internal Audit Department within all public offices and an immediate recognition of the independent authority it would wield.“My view is that there needs to be a lot more education in the field of fraud auditing, we need to develop a cadre of fearless auditors who are not desk bound,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, but prepared to go after the perpetrators of criminal activity in institutions and companies.”This, Dookhoo said, needs to be backed up by a police force that is trained in the gathering of forensic evidence.Prosecutors need also to be trained in the area of fraud detection and prosecution.Additionally, institutions need to be more open about fraud within their systems with some rewards for whistle-blowers, perhaps even legislation to offer protection.“It is noted that whistle-blowers do not survive in their jobs generally in jurisdictions that have whistle blower legislation- the most admired of which is England.Employees generally do not survive the humiliation caused by whistle blowing and there are many cases of ruined lives and lost opportunities… imagine what would happen to a whistle blower in Guyana.”Dookhoo also spoke of the CLICO fiasco and noted that there is much to be done in terms of harmonizing Caribbean regulators and it should be fast tracked to define the region as an economic entity.“Clearly no one blew the whistle on this pan Caribbean entity. Caribbean regulators must demand their independence and must be guided by the institution’s mission and responsibilities to their individual and collective jurisdictions.”Meanwhile, in his opening remarks, Seeram, who is also the Bursar of the University,wholesale jerseys, said that IIA Guyana has been making significant contributions to educating auditors in both the private and public sectors of Guyana.With yesterday’s workshop given the theme “Fraud Indicators-Prevention, Detection and Investigation”, the IIA official disclosed that the institute is aware of the increasing number of frauds detected in the country over the past year. “In doing so, it is imperative that this Chapter has to take the leading role to mount this Seminar/Workshop today for staff employed in both the public and private sector.”Not only is the workshop designed to have internal auditors increased their understanding of fraud and corruption, but would further hone their skills in detecting the types of fraud and red flag recommending control mechanisms and anti-fraud and anti-corruption policies and procedures.Also making presentations to the group yesterday were renowned Canadian-based accountant, Lal Balkaran,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, and IIA Guyana’s official, Deodat Indar.Balkaran, during his presentation, claimed that nearly a third of business failures are due to internal frauds while organizations are losing an estimated seven percent of their revenue because of fraud. Almost 85% of frauds are committed by employees also.According to Balkaran, half of the third world’s debt of over US$1.5 trillion is due to fraud and corrupt practices.At end of 2009, fraud in the US was more than US$1 trillion, up from the US$700B in 2006. Of US$4 trillion spent globally on government contracts each year, US$400B is being lost to bribery. |
