According to an article published June 2 by Accounting Today, James Ratley, President of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), urged conference participants last week to counter financial fraud by tuning into the ethical climate in their workplaces. ACFE's NY Chapter and the Institute of Internal Auditors sponsored the conference held last Friday at Pace University in NYC. He stated that when accountants and other finance professionals work for organizations that lack ethics, they have two choices - change their ethics (to match the organization's) or leave.
The article also noted that ACFE engages convicted fraudsters to speak at events but their policy is to not pay these individuals for speaking and that Ratley cited their high recidivism rates (i.e., over half of them return to serve jail time).
