The Tone at the Top
Internal controls are effective only if they are implemented from the top down. The "tone at the top" dictates the effectiveness of any fraud control program, Dorris advises. "If those C-level officers demonstrate integrity and honesty and being forthright with employees, directors, investors, customers and purchasers, those companies become more successful and less likely of fraud in the organization."
Sheilah Etheridge, owner of SME Management in Anchorage, Ala., makes a living by cleaning up "the aftermath of an unqualified accounting person or staff," and she has seen her share of occupational fraud.
"The recession will not cause anyone who is honest to become dishonest," Etheridge says. "But it may be a handy excuse for those that have thought about it before to act on it, or those already embezzling to up the ante."
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