This document discusses the importance of trust and ethics for Certified Fraud Examiners. It defines trust and ethics, outlines some common ethical issues facing CFEs, and recommends ways for CFEs to build trust, such as being honest, consistent, and accountable in order to maintain integrity and avoid conflicts of interest.

1. WELCOME
Prof. Godwin Emmanuel, Oyedokun
HND (Acct.), BSc. (Acct. Ed), BSc (Acc & Fin), MBA (Acct. & Fin.), MSc. (Acct.), MSc. (Bus & Econs.), MTP (SA), PhD (Fin), PhD
(Acct), FCA, FCTI, ACIB, ACS, MNIM, CNA, FCFIP, FCE, FERP, CICA, CFA, CFE, CIPFA, CPFA, ABR, CertIFR, FFAR
godwinoye@yahoo.com
+2348033737184, +2348055863944 & +2348095491026
Managing Partner/Chief Executive
OGE Professional Services
(Chartered Accountants, Tax Practitioners & Forensic Auditor)

2. BUILDING TRUST IN A CONNECTED CERTIFIED FRAUD EXAMINERS’ WORLD:
RESOLVING ETHICAL ISSUE
Being Lecture delivered
at the 2020 ACFE Lagos CPE Training: Virtual Edition
held on 9-12 October 2020

3. PRESENTATION OUTLINE
ü Introduction
ü The Concept of Trust
ü Concept of Ethics
ü Ethical Issues facing Certified Fraud
Examiners
ü CFE’s and Trust Building
ü Conclusion and Recommendation

4. INTRODUCTION
Ø Overtime, professional codes have been put forward by so many professional
associations, including ACFE.
Ø This is to prevent professionals from derailing due to misconduct, mistrusts
and violation of corporate governance.
Ø It is imperative to note that the society can only thrive when there is high level
of trust among various parties to a transaction, respect to rule of law and
simple agreement.
Ø Trust is one of the component and easy of doing business around the world.

5. INTRODUCTION (CONT)
Ø Business promoters, investors and professionals value trust and place it as one of the
most important asset for any business to grow. It is important that building trust
amongst parties, towns/communities, cities and nations is the only way to guarantee
peace and showing development.
Ø Certified Fraud Examiners are expected to show positive attitude in developing trust
among themselves, with other professionals and other stakeholders which is similar to
our tenet Integrity.
Ø The crux of this presentation therefore is, an organization/professional body may tend to
collapse lose its worth due to mistrusts, hence, the call for trust building.

6. THE CONCEPT OF TRUST
What is Trust?
Ø Trust is the foundation of any
healthy relationship.
Ø Trust is when one party relies on
another to behave in a certain way.

7. THE CONCEPT OF TRUST
ELEMENT OF TRUST
INTERDEPENDENCE
A reliance on the other party to fulfill their part of
the arrangement.
RISK
This is based on uncertainty about how the
other party will behave.
(CONT)

8. THE CONCEPT OF TRUST
BENEFIT OF TRUST
T • Trusted organizations have lower employee turnover and higher revenue.
R
• Trust result in lower costs of doing business.
U
• Fosters cooperation among professional colleagues and increases commitment to the
organization.
S
• Higher profitability and shareholder returns.
T
• Higher levels of trust improve social capital
(CONT)

9. THE CONCEPT OF TRUST
Keys to
gaining Trust
?
The two keys mean that fraud examiners need to
clearly communicate their values and
commitment to honesty and integrity to their
members and prospective members.
ü Honesty
ü Ethical Behavior
(CONT)

10. THE CONCEPT OF TRUST
NATURE OF TRUST
Competency
The believe that the other party has the skills and experience to
fulfill their part of the contract.
Integrity
The Believe that the other party is honest.
Goodwill
When one party has confidence that the other party will look after
their interests.
BUILDING BLOCKS
(CONT)

11. THE CONCEPT OF TRUST
Industrial
change
Tech-
Change
Data &
Information
FACTORS THAT
DETERMINE
TRUST
(CONT)

12. THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS
Ethics as one of the keys of gaining “trust” is a core
attribute for a Certified Fraud Examiner.
It is at the heart of the idea of professionalism and it
is no coincidence that Fraud Examiners are mostly
called upon to act as the ethical conscience of their
organizations.

13. THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS
MEANING OF
ETHICS
Ø Ethics are principles by which
we live good lives as individuals
and as a group.
Ø Ethics encompass work, play,
family, education, community,
politics, war and worship.
(CONT)

14. THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS
What purposes
should we pursue?
What rules
should we uphold?
What choices
should we make?
What actions
should we take?
What should our
characters be?
What sort of
culture should
we shape?
Ethical Conduct of a
CFE answer vital
questions.
(CONT)

15. THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS
Types of Professional Ethics
(CONT)

16. THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS
NormativeEthics
DescriptiveEthics
MetaEthics
It is concerned with arriving
at set of moral conduct
r u l e s a g a i n s t w h i c h
behavior are judged.
It also deals with what
habits we need to develop,
w h a t d u t i e s a n d
responsibilities we should
f o l l o w , a n d t h e
consequences of our
behavior and its effect on
others
It refers to the study of
moral beliefs of the
people and principles.
It is a field of empirical
research into what
people or societies
consider right or wrong.
This considers where one’s
ethical principles come
from, and what they mean.
It addresses questions and
focuses on issues of
universal truths, role of
reason in ethical judgments,
and the meaning of ethical
terms themselves.
Types of Professional Ethics
(CONT)

17. THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS
CODE OF ETHICS
Ø Certified Fraud Examiners are guided by a
code of ethics.
Ø Practicing Certified Fraud Examiners must
become aware of their ethical responsibility
towards the client as well as being on the
lookout for possible areas where ethical
concerns could arise.
Ø This invariably determines trust intensity
with client.
(CONT)

18. THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS
ACFE CODE OF ETHICS
Ø A Certified Fraud Examiner shall at all times demonstrate a
commitment professionalism and diligence in the
performance of his or her duties.
Ø A Certified Fraud Examiner shall not engage in any illegal or
unethical conduct, or any activity which would constitute a
conflict of interest
Ø A Certified Fraud Examiner will comply with lawful orders of
the court, and will testify to matters truthfully and without
bias or prejudice
(CONT)

19. THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS
ACFE CODE OF ETHICS
Ø A Certified Fraud Examiner shall not reveal any confidential
information obtained during a professional engagement without
proper authorization
Ø A Certified Fraud Examiner shall not reveal material matters
discovered during the course of an examination, which, if omitted,
could cause a distortion of the facts
Ø A Certified Fraud Examiner shall continually strive to increase the
competence and effectiveness of professional services performed
under his or her direction.
(CONT)

20. ETHICAL ISSUES FACING CFE’S
Fraud examiners are expected to exhibit the
highest level of integrity in the performance of
their professional assignment and never
sacrificing their integrity to serve a client, an
employer, or the public interest.
Public trust is founded on integrity.
Integrity can be viewed as the opposite
of hypocrisy and includes
Trustwo
rthiness
Congrue
ncy
(CONT)

21. ETHICAL ISSUES FACING CFE’S
Ø The ethical issues that fraud examiners face have to do with
technical practice, but many others have to do with broader
considerations of business conduct.
CONFLICT OF
INTEREST
BRIBERY AND
KICKBACKS
RELATIONSHIPS WITH
CLIENTS
LEGAL COMPLIANCE
BY CLIENTS
(CONT)

22. CFE’S AND TRUST BUILDING
Ø Fraud Examiners are expected to display respect for others in all their
professional engagements thus establishing trust and eliminating any form of
ethical issue.
Ø They must also demonstrate concern for others’ well-being through contributing to
the welfare of others and not putting them in harm’s way. This also leads to trust in
being placed in the fraud examiner as he/she is seen been concerned for the well-
being of others.
HOW?

23. CFE’S AND TRUST BUILDING (CONT)
Trust can be built
by
Ø Recognizing that trust building takes hard work
Trust must be earned. It comes from conscious effort to walk your talk, keep
your promises and align your behavior with your values. Building trust is worth
the effort because once trust is lost, it can be very difficult to recover.
Ø Being honest
Even when it’s difficult, tell the truth and not just what you think people want to
hear.
Ø Being consistent
Consistently doing what you say you’ll do builds trust over time – it can’t be
something you do only occasionally.
Ø Building in accountability
You can encourage honest dialogue and foster accountability by building in
processes that become part of the culture.

24. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Ø Trust is the foundation of any healthy relationship, it must be embraced to be the guide of
day to day operational activities of an organization so as to avoid incidence of imminent
collapse.
Ø Just as public trust is founded on integrity, Fraud examiners are expected to exhibit the
highest level of integrity in the performance of their professional assignments without
sacrificing their integrity to serve a client, an employer, or the public interest.
Ø Certified Fraud Examiners are responsible for exposing the biggest corporate scandals in
history such as Cynthia Cooper, the whistleblower of the WorldCom scandal, it is hereby
recommended that all Certified Fraud Examiners should be well equipped with
trustworthiness and ensure compliance of ethical conduct during practice of the
profession.