Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
The Society for Forensic Accounting and Fraud Prevention (SFAFP), has vowed to apply full force in the fight against fraud and corruption in the society.
A board member of SFAFP, Prof. Suleiman Aruwa, made this revelation, recently, ahead of the Society’s year 2020 proficiency training on forensic accounting, fraud prevention and management scheduled to start in May and to run through August, 2020.
He added that the body was refocusing from fraud auditing to corruption auditing, stressing that although fraud has traces those of corruption cannot be gleaned.
“So we are focusing on a very new horizon that people are not even looking at. The key problem we have currently is lack of diligent investigation and prosecution and because of that we are currently engaging the ICPC, the EFCC and the Code of Conduct Bureau,” Aruwa said.
He said the society was assisting governmental units to strengthen their systems so that fraud can be prevented in the first instance.
“Prevention is the issue. I can tell you that in developed economies there are more corruption but the system would not allow them to slip.
“So we are faced with first and foremost in building systems that will not even allow these breaches; that will make it difficult for you to commit any form of fraud.”
This position was corroborated by SFAFP’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Abuchi Ogbuju.
He attributed the lapses in the anti-graft war to poor investigation and prosecution, insisting that it is wrong to arrest a suspect before investigation.
“To arrest somebody and start investigation is not it. You finish your investigation and get all your details without even the person knowing. It might take up to three years but by the time you are done, it is just a matter of arresting the person and charging him to court with evidence and the trial will run,” Ogbuju said.
He noted that the deployment of forensic ideas and tools working with data fully analysed and fully comprehended would increase fraud detection to between 90-99 per cent.
“So you leave little or no room for a perpetrator or a suspect to get a way because the facts are there,” he added.
He also noted that with the involvement forensic experts in investigations of fraud, shredded and burnt materials can be decoded.
