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IMA/BAP Sponsors Informative Talk On Occupational Fraud

  • Nov 4, 2015
IMA/BAP Sponsors Informative Talk On Occupational Fraud

Close to 50 accounting and finance students were in attendance as presenters Bart F. McGloin, CPA, CFE, and Jonathan Willcox, ’09, from Dopkins & Company, a full-service accounting and consulting firm in Buffalo, spoke about occupational fraud and abuse, and described it is a large and growing problem in the United States and across the world.

The presentation, held on campus Oct 21, was sponsored by the Niagara chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and Beta Alpha Psi, the international honor organization for financial information students and professionals. Their presentation focused on the legal definition of fraud, the most common fraud schemes and why they are committed, and best practices for preventing fraudulent behavior.

McGloin has over 20 years of experience investigating fraudulent activity and white-collar crime. His experience includes working on the Adelphia Communications bankruptcy case as well as numerous occupational fraud matters in Western New York. He also has considerable experience in the area of litigation support and providing expert witness testimony in a variety of jurisdictions and arbitration cases.

Willcox said his experience pertains to financial statement audits of privately held businesses and internal control consulting engagements with publicly traded companies. He specializes in helping companies answer meaningful questions by taking data from often siloed information systems and creating actionable information in the form of reports and dashboards. He is a member of the technology committee of the Buffalo Chapter of the NYSSCPA and the Niagara University Accounting Advisory Board.

“It was great to see such a large crowd at the event”, commented Matt Peterson, vice president of Beta Alpha Psi. “This gave our members the opportunity to network with current IMA members and learn of the opportunities that the IMA provides. We were fortunate to have partner Bart McGloin and system consultant Jonathan Willcox from Dopkins & Company to present on the process of fraud auditing. Overall, this dinner was a huge success!”

The speakers discussed case studies of actual fraud cases in Western New York and the results of the cases. They explained that, each year, billions of dollars are lost to fraud and embezzlement by employees against their employer. Prof. Chris Aquino, associate professor of accounting and moderator for Beta Alpha Psi, commented, “Once again, the Niagara chapter of the IMA and our own BAP chapter combined to host a wonderful event here on campus. Attendance was great and the speakers were able to engage the audience with wonderful stories of their fraud investigation work and discussion on opportunities for our students in this exciting profession.”

Mark Janis, president of the Niagara chapter of the IMA, offered his thanks. “IMA’s Niagara chapter would like to thank the BAP, Professor Aquino and NU for providing such a fabulous forum for our organization and speakers to educate about the different opportunities that our profession offers.”