Chapter 9
Forging Alliances
At last count, the ACFE had 138 chapters in 40 countries. Forty percent of our more than 55,000 members are from outside the United States, and we’ve established anti-fraud relationships all over the world. While we expect the ACFE to continue growing slowly in North America, our greatest growth potential is in the international arena.
That’s something we’ve put a considerable amount of time and effort into fostering. Not long after founding the ACFE, Jim and I began traveling the world to spread the gospel of fraud detection, deterrence, and prevention.
By the mid-1990s, we’d settled into a pattern. I went east, and he went west. For me it was Canada and Europe — Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland and the United Kingdom. For Jim it was Mexico and the Asia-Pacific region — that meant Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore.
Once I jokingly accused him of having his own fan club in New Zealand because he’d been there so often. On one of his trips, he and his lovely wife, Gloria, bungee-jumped off a bridge near Queenstown, where the sport had been invented. Some enterprising fellow on the other side of the gorge videotaped all the jumpers, and then offered to sell them a copy. Jim bought his, and proudly played it for us. On the video, Gloria went first with no hesitation. When it was Jim’s turn, he wavered but finally jumped. I laughed hard, but Jim’s braver than me; I wouldn’t have done it at all.
The Law Enforcement Partnership
Because law enforcement has always been a vital part of the ACFE’s mission, we established the ACFE Law Enforcement Partnership in 2005. Participating agencies recognize the CFE credential when they hire and promote personnel. In return, partners are entitled to discounts on ACFE training and other benefits.
In 2007 I hired Alani Mundie to develop and run the program. I’d met Alani through her sister, Liseli, who worked for us while attending college and later went on to a career in the U.S. State Department, where she is today. Alani too had been an ACFE employee shortly after completing her bachelor’s degree in political science. Determined to apply her education in the political arena, she joined the staff of a United States congresswoman in Dallas, but later began to miss Austin dearly.
Meanwhile, we had stayed in touch, and Alani eventually returned to the ACFE, where, as International Law Enforcement Liaison, she travels extensively to promote the Partnership, which is growing slowly but steadily. The first four agencies to recognize the CFE credential were the FBI, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Government Accountability Office.
The Partnership now has 28 members, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Marshals Service — the nation’s oldest law enforcement agency — and the Criminal Investigations Division of the IRS, as well as numerous other federal, state and local investigative agencies. Some put large numbers of their staff through the CFE program. Within two years of the SEC joining in 2009, nearly 400 of its employees had earned the credential.
We anticipate the largest domestic growth in membership will be among the Offices of Inspectors General at the federal, state and local levels. We’re also working to expand the Partnership internationally. Several times Alani has traveled to Lyon to meet with Interpol and to The Hague to speak with Europol. We’re hopeful that both will join the Partnership in the near future. If and when that happens, there’s a good chance that numerous European nations would follow their example.
Besides having a strong work ethic, Alani is kind, thoughtful, and shares my dark sense of humor. Having met her family, I know where she got these traits. Her father, John, a lawyer in El Paso, celebrates his birthday one day before mine, although not in the same year. Like Alani and me, he loves to laugh. If he lived nearby, we’d hang out together a lot.
Alani’s mother, Lilia, also had wonderful values. Regrettably, she developed cancer, and passed away at only 54. It made me wonder: presuming there is a God above, why does He let bad things happen to good people? Why doesn’t He pick on those who deserve it?
Ten years ago, when we wanted to contact a member, we did it by phone or a letter. Now, 80% of our communication is electronic, and we conduct a lot of our training online. Technology has enabled us to develop and educate new audiences — those members who previously wouldn’t have been able to attend an ACFE course because it was held too far away or at a time that conflicted with their schedules.
Still, there’ll always be strong demand for on-site courses and interaction with the course presenter and other members in attendance. Some people overlook the importance of such networking. So many times in our line of work, the critical factor isn’t what you know; it’s who you know that can open a door for you. In our business, knowledge is power — power to be an effective fraud examiner.
Social media — a relatively new use of technology — have revolutionized the way the ACFE communicates with members and how members interact with each other. Our vastly increased use of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other such Web sites has enriched our professional community and its dialogue. This kind of interconnectedness has always been desirable. But now, as the ACFE opens more and more chapters around the world, it’s indispensable.
Members come to us from two sources: from our seminars and, mostly, from referrals by other members. One thing that spurs their enthusiasm is our training, which tens of thousands have attended.
At ACFE seminars and courses, many people tell us, “This is the best training I’ve ever been to.” And members have thanked Jim and me countless times for providing the tools they needed to properly investigate a fraud case. “I can’t tell you how much this has helped me,” they say. “I had this fraud case dropped in my lap, and I didn’t know what to do with it.”
To address that need, our training and printed materials provide a methodology that helps a fraud examiner conduct an investigation. In, for example, the Fraud Theory Approach, you first analyze the available data. Next, based on your analysis, you formulate a hypothesis, which you then test. And finally, you refine and amend your hypothesis. Of course, this isn’t a silver bullet for solving fraud cases. But tools and techniques like this help fraud examiners conduct better investigations and resolve more cases. And that’s what motivates people to join the ACFE and encourage their colleagues to as well. Now, the ACFE can’t cure the world’s ills. But by applying these methods, our members can track down and bust fraudsters one by one.
Our primary role is to provide a good network where they can get together and exchange information. Recently, we formed a group — the ACFE Advisory Council — to help ensure we provide members with the latest and best fraud-fighting tools and techniques. We encourage participation by members who are subject matter experts in various fields, and we enable them to electronically participate in quarterly member surveys, write or review course materials, provide industry case studies, and assist in professional development activities.
These people are out there in the trenches every day. Based on that experience, they share their views on the future of the ACFE, the direction in which it should be headed, new courses we should offer, and specific problems they’re currently encountering in the field, so that we can better design our events, education, and other offerings. In this way, members help the ACFE improve prevention and detection techniques.
In early 2009, Kathie Green Lawrence retired from the ACFE. We made sure she’s financially secure. Now she can spend more time with her grandkids, whom she loves dearly. Kathie spent 32 years with me in some capacity — first in the FBI, then with Wells & Associates, and finally with the ACFE. Working so hard took a personal and emotional toll on her, and she was ready to hang up her spurs. We all owe her a debt of gratitude.
What does the future hold? For the ACFE, a lot. It is still far from its potential, and I derive great satisfaction from knowing it will live on after I’m gone. To ensure continuity, I formed an employee-owned corporation that will take effect upon Jim’s and my deaths. Those working at the ACFE now and in the future will inherit it as my legacy.
I also plan to continue my involvement in the ACFE Foundation, a non-profit organization I founded to help support anti-fraud scholarship through tuition assistance and endowments.
Personally, I’m where I want to be, doing what I want to do. Each day is a fresh adventure in which I don’t report to anyone or follow a strict schedule.
I’m filled with love for Judy. She’s wonderfully patient, and has even grown to like my sixty-fifth birthday present to myself: a small loop ring in my left ear. Why did I get the piercing? Because I was 65, and I could.
I’m taking an on-line novel-writing course and toying with the idea of writing a book full of imagination. It wouldn’t matter to me if it sold only ten copies; I’d probably find it enormously fulfilling.
Like other people, I hope the things I’ve learned in life have made me a better person. Once I became financially independent, I realized how little satisfaction I get from acquiring things and how much I enjoy giving. The best part of my success has been being able to help others in ways that make a measurable difference in their lives.
I haven’t yearned for a particularly long life. And considering how I’ve physically abused myself over many decades, it’s a wonder I’m still here and in good health. The most horrible thought I can conjure up is that of suffering from dementia or being physically dependent on others. If I ever get that way, I’ll be ready to find out whether there’s a better life on the other side. Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to go the same way my Grandpa Will did. One night, at the age of 80-something, he went to bed and didn’t wake up.
While I’ve come to accept my inadequacies, I place a high value on honesty and fair play. As a young FBI agent, I learned that lesson the hard way, and sleep better as a result. It’s a good thing, because I’ve got no patience for distractions. There’s much to do, and time’s flying.