A regional forensic auditor has suggested that too much political interference and lack of forensic accounting may have hindered the exposure of some major financial fraud in the region over the years.
Stephen Grey, president of the Caribbean Institute of Forensic Accounting (CIFA), told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY he believed that because of the discovery of major frauds over the years in a number of financial institutions, confidence in ordinary accountants have dropped and it was now up to the forensic auditors to step up to the plate.
“The forensic profession has not been found, so far, to be in disrepute in anything. They are expected to deal with a matter independently and honestly and report what we have seen,” he said.
The Trinidad-based forensic auditor said he did not think the Caribbean had enough forensic accountants and if more attention was given to the development of the forensic accounting profession in the region, the Allen Stanford fraud and CLICO debacle may have been “unearthed earlier and minimized”.
Grey said since the CL Financial collapse many private companies were setting up a forensic auditors unit “but on a public platform, the Caribbean region is still a little corrupt in the public sector, so that political will have to allow the profession in”.
“For example, CLICO – in a developed country, that level of fraud would have been minimized. In most developed countries, in the financial institution they must have a forensically trained accountant or what they call an investigator in their organization and that is by law,” he said.
Grey added: “Legislation would help the profession but I don’t think we are going to depend on it because it is going to be slow in coming. I am not saying that the Barbados Government is corrupt, but when governments are corrupt, they don’t technically want forensics around. In the Caribbean we are seeing our enforcement agencies do have some political interference, in some countries more than others. So we will have to deal with that situation”.
Grey, who is also the founder of Renaissance & Associates, an association of certified fraud examiners, said they were now taking steps to “expand and get more, not only qualified forensic accountants but those to practise” throughout the region.
His comments came following a two-day workshop at the Blue Horizon Hotel last Thursday and Friday. The topics were The Introduction To Fraud And Forensic Auditing and The Introduction To Contract Procurement Fraud.
