Fraud And Abuse In Nonprofit Organizations

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IS YOUR NONPROFIT VULNERABLE TO FRAUD? Fraud or embezzlement discovered within a major corporationultimately leads to front-page scandals and a few raised eyebrows.But the mere suggestion or evidence of fraud within a nonprofit cancause irreversible damage to its reputation, its support base, and,eventually, its very existence. Preventing Fraud in NonprofitOrganizations is the proactive manual your organization needs todetect fraud and prevent it from affecting your organization'sbottom line and name. Brimming with details of hundreds of actualfraud and embezzlement schemes, it provides specific, practicaladvice on strengthening the areas in which your nonprofit may bemost vulnerable. This hands-on guide shows nonprofit accountants, CFOs, financialconsultants, board members, and managers how to: * Know the four consistent areas of high risk * Thoroughly evaluate their organization's system of internalcontrols * Assemble a fraud examination team * Document a fraud action plan * Expose weaknesses that could lead to fraud * Take corrective action to reduce the possibility ofvictimization Fraud deterrence is not exclusive to large corporations.Recommended reading for nonprofit professionals, Preventing Fraudin Nonprofit Organizations will motivate executives to take a freshand intensive look at their organization's practices and act toprotect from financial dishonesty.

Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector is a high-stake and explosive investigative work about charity misdeeds. As you read this cover, there is a noteworthy charity fraud being perpetrated. Scandals threaten to destroy the reputation of the charitable sector. These scandals threaten to destroy the reputation of powerful organizations and their leaders. Charity malfeasance is an addiction of epic proportions. Charity leaders and regulators, by their silence and denial, are enablers. Because the misdeeds were kept secret, there was no public outcry. The secrets are now being exposed. The sector needs a new paradigm, and Silence makes numerous suggestions as to how to turn it around. This exposé is based on the largest repository of charity fraud anywhere. Many trusted leaders are exposed including board members, presidents, superintendents, chief executive officers, accountants and more. They embezzled, forged, extorted, and falsified records; they self-dealt, negligently managed assets, and had multiple conflicts of interest.

Purpose In any organization, the Board of Directors acts as the last line of defense against fraud and abuse. Since 2008, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has required nonprofit organizations to publicly disclose any significant asset diversion, defined as theft or unauthorized use of assets, that occurred during the filing year. This research study uses this new disclosure of asset diversion to investigate whether proper board policy oversight and/or governance reduces the likelihood of asset diversion. Understanding how policy and governance impacts a nonprofit organization is critical for managers and practitioners to understand. Organizational management, board members and regulatory agencies (auditors, IRS) all have a responsibility to prevent asset diversion and would benefit from a deeper understanding of where the individual failure points exist from within the organization that create an increased chance of asset diversion. Research Methodology This research study spanned the period between 2014 through 2018 and was comprised of 254 nonprofit organizations. The total sample of organizations that were represented in the IRS data sets consisted of 113,899 separate nonprofit organizations. Organizational data collected from IRS 990 filings across each of the 5 years was first isolated by organizations that experienced asset diversion (n=127) and then matched with an equal number of nonprofit organizations that did not experience asset diversion through random sampling. From the IRS filing data, 18 different variables were then tested against the dependent variable, asset diversion, using logistic binary regression analysis. Findings The findings of this study both reaffirmed certain key aspects of asset diversion in nonprofit organizations as well as introduced new key variables that showed significant correlation with an increase in asset diversion. The findings suggest that there are variables from both board policy oversight and board governance regression analysis that show a significant relationship with asset diversion. More specifically, there were three common variables that showed significance throughout each test: organizational required audit, independent auditors, and improper party transaction with family members of current or former directors and/or officers of the organization. One additional variable, improper party transaction with an entity owned or operated by a current or former officer and/or director, showed significance in four of the five models tested, indicating that there is a strong correlation with increasing asset diversion. Keywords: fraud, asset diversion, nonprofit, binary regression, Board of Directors, IRS 990 filing.

Nonprofit organizations are at an increased risk for the occurrence of fraud due to their inherently trusting nature and the limited availability of resources for fraud prevention measures. Because charitable organizations rely on positive public image and donor perceptions of organizational effectiveness for continued funding, it may be difficult or impossible for a nonprofit to remain financially viable once fraud occurs. We conduct an experimental investigation with potential donors to determine which actions improved the likelihood that they would contribute to a nonprofit organization following a material misappropriation of assets fraud. Modifying and enhancing board of director oversight had the highest and only statistically significant positive effect on potential donations. Moreover, firing an Executive Director, who was not involved in the fraud, reduced both the likelihood and amount of planned giving.

There are an estimated 40,000 international Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), working in an enormous global aid industry; official development assistance alone reached £90bn in 2014. This is supplemented by huge voluntary giving – the UK public, for example, give around £1bn a year to overseas causes. These organisations face a unique challenge from fraud and corruption. Operating in the world’s most under-developed and fragile environments, with minimal infrastructure and trust-based cultures, the risk is high. And, being wholly reliant on donors and supporters for income, so are the stakes. Researchers make different estimates of the scale of the problem facing the sector. Some research implies that losses to the global aid budget caused by occupational fraud and abuse may be in the billions of pounds, while those to the British public's voluntary overseas donations could be in the tens of millions. For many sector professionals working in the developing world, these estimates are readily believable. Fighting Fraud and Corruption in the Humanitarian and Global Development Sector by Oliver May is a timely, accessible and relevant how-to guide, which explores the scale and nature of the threat, debunks pervasive myths, and shows readers how to help their NGOs to better deter, prevent, detect and respond to fraud and corruption.

This study addressed the problem regarding the lack of strategies and internal controls in faith-based nonprofit organizations which resulted in a higher risk of fraud, waste of funds, or abuse of funds in charities, churches, and other related ministries. This risk was the result of trust by organizations that employees would not commit fraud and due to a lack of sufficient resources. This study specifically researched faith-based nonprofit organizations that are located in Texas. This qualitative case study included two faith-based nonprofit organizations located in or near Houston, Texas. The research found several themes including: frauds occur, segregation of duties, approval controls, review process, and policies and procedures. The study also found several internal controls, policies, and procedures that these organizations could implement to decrease the risk of fraud, such as a whistleblower policy, background checks, segregation of duties, review of financials, and limited access to accounting procedures. Further research could be conducted on the implementation of internal controls after a fraud was discovered and the restoration of donor trust.

The Fraud Risk Assessment Guide is a series of checklists that coincide with the organization-wide model of fraud deterrence explained in the book, Fraud and Abuse in Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Prevention and Detection. The checklists in this Guide are designed to identify many of the most important financial controls and non-financial policies and procedures that aid in the prevention, detection, and deterrence of fraud and abuse— both from within the organization and from external sources. Each of the controls, policies, and procedures identified in the Guide are explained in detail in the companion book, Fraud and Abuse in Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Prevention and Detection. Who should prepare the checklists in this Guide? One of the keys to making the Guide most useful is to have each checklist prepared by persons who are both: Adequately trained and educated in the subject matter Independent of the persons directly involved in the activity being evaluated These characteristics may be present within the organization— such as by having the checklists prepared by members of other departments or by involving members of the audit committee or board of directors. Another option is to utilize an outside firm that specializes in fraud prevention (this approach has the added benefit of further improving independence and objectivity in the evaluation of an organization's system of fraud deterrence). The end result of utilizing the Guide will be the identification of areas of fraud control in which organizational policies and procedures can be improved (each "no" answer on the checklist represents a possible weakness in the organization's defenses against fraud and abuse). These results should be reviewed and evaluated by senior management, the audit committee, and the board of directors, who has ultimate responsibility for safeguarding the organization's assets.

A one-of-a-kind resource walking you through one complete fraud investigation, from the original tip to conviction in court Anatomy of a Fraud Investigation is an engrossing read and a valuable resource for fraud investigators, auditors, or anyone who suspects fraud may be occuring in their organizations and is unsure as to how to act. It details all phases of a fraud investigation from the first suspicion of fraud to the final judgment in court, through the eyes of a forensic accountant. In each phase, the author provides insights based on his twenty-two years as a forensic accountant from where to sit at the table when you bring the suspected fraudster in for questioning, to how you protect the key sources of information that the suspect will try to destroy once he or she realizes they are under investigation. In-depth analysis of a fraud investigation Based on an actual investigation conducted by the author Each chapter contains valuable tips and key considerations, providing subtext for why decisions were made and bringing to light potential risks A fascinating, insider look at a fraud investigation, Anatomy of a Fraud Investigation helps you better understand fraud detection, investigation, and prevention-from the inside out.