What: The War Against Fraud and Abuse: Are We Winning?

When: 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., March 3, 2010

Where: Room 2911-G, Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building

Why: To learn who is responsible for winning the war on fraud, waste and abuse.

How: Obtain your supervisor's approval and send an e-mail message to Leah Huth (leah.huth@dfas.mil) by COB March 2, 2010.

Field of Study: Government Auditing and Accounting

Prerequisite: Some familiarity with internal controls and fraud.

CPE: Two credit hours.

Is it reasonable to expect auditors to find fraud? Since fraud is characterized by trickery, deceit and deception, and because auditors are very visible and have limited tools at their disposal, maybe it's just too easy for the bad guys to fool the auditors. But, if not auditors, then who can organizations rely on to deter, prevent and detect fraud? Should it be management? Those charged with governance? How about the government? Maybe we need to add more auditing standards? This session will reveal the answer to winning the war on fraud, waste and abuse and introduce a recently published set of protocols that organizations committed to combating fraud can implement and follow.

To share his practical experience in auditing and investigating fraud, waste and abuse is David L. Cotton, CGFM, CPA, CFE, chairman, PRIVATE Cotton & Company LLP. The firm was founded in 1981 and has a practice concentration in assist­ing federal and state government agencies, inspectors general and government grantees and contractors with a variety of govern­ment program-related assurance and advisory services. Cotton & Company has performed grant and contract, indirect cost rate, financial statement, financial related, and performance audits for more than two dozen federal inspectors general, including the Government Accountability Office, Department of State, the Department of Justice, Department of Education, Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Homeland Security.

Please join us for two hours of lively discussion. In addition to the speaker's commentary, about 20 minutes will be set aside for questions.