A New Perspective on Deterrence Webinar Series

A New Perspective on Deterrence Webinar Series

A New Perspective on Deterrence

Performing a white-collar crime is akin to knowingly making a forward march toward the end of a tall building while blindfolded, and expecting not to fall off. But physics doesn’t work that way because what lies beyond the edge of a high-rise is nothing but air and a hard crash onto hard ground. It isn’t until a perp falls through the void that they realize the egregious miscalculation of their power to defy gravity.

White-collar (including corporate) crime have become a part of the fabric of our lives. In fact, corporate crimes occur with such frequency and with such little fanfare that they have mostly become normalized. When a corporation is flagged for fraud, the general public doesn’t bat an eye and continues to utilize their services or purchase their products. But when an individual is caught performing an occupational white-collar crime, they (and their family members) are ostracized and banished from polite society.

Doing business in today’s highly competitive and risk filled global marketplace is an occupational hazard. This is why there are so many agencies that enforce regulations and prosecute those who violate them. In fact, the need for enforcement has created a multibillion-dollar compliance industry to help keep companies and their workers on the right side of the SEC, DOJ, FCPA, FTC, and countless other regulatory agencies worldwide. The purpose of compliance programming is to keep employees on track with internal as well as external regulations, ethics, and other issues, for the purpose of preventing intentional or inadvertent fraud. But too many businesses either don’t have compliance programming in place, or have programming that lacks efficacy. This places companies as well as individuals at risk of prosecution which results in loss of employment, reputation, financial stability, and most significantly, loss of family, and ultimately, incarceration. A New Perspective on Deterrence is targeted at high risk tolerant employees and motivates this population to take compliance and the law seriously. This course is guaranteed to keep all on the path of adherence.

Perps not only bring about the death of their professional lives and expose their company and professional trade to enormous financial loss, public scrutiny and mistrust, but also causes family ties to bend, and more often than not, to break. This is because it is not only the perps who are (rightly) punished, but through no fault of their own, the families of these perps are forced to endure dire legal, economic, and emotional consequences. Unlike corporations, there are no contingency funds to make the family solvent again, and no PR firm to rebuild their reputation. For these reasons, companies large and small must do more than the bare minimum in the deterrence arena regarding compliance and ethics training because compliance programming should and must be more than “window dressing” to meet its goal.  White-collar crimes committed by bad actors are indeed crimes against an employer, and or individual victims, but they are also financial crimes against the perp’s immediate family. These acute betrayals of familial trust not only cause the loss of a head of household’s legitimate income, but also expose innocent family members to the risk of multiple additional detrimental issues such as:

The seizure of ALL jointly owned marital assets, including untainted assets

Joint tax burdens for the innocent spouse on unreported income (which was also not reported to the non-offending spouse who now faces tax debts in the hundreds, thousands, or millions of dollars)

Children at high risk of performing self-harm by turning to drugs or dropping out of school due to disorientation, stress and mental health issues surrounding this event, and being parented from prison

Misplaced guilt by association from the public

Suicide or attempted suicide of the perp

Compliance programming is in place to safeguard the security of the company, but programming must also be calibrated to safeguard employees and their families. A New Perspective on Deterrence is a comprehensive course that was formulated specifically for high-risk tolerant workers. This novel approach to deter occupational crime takes a deep dive into the full spectrum of ALL risks associated with white-collar crime and sheds a new light on how perps fly under the compliance radar.

A New Perspective on Deterrence introduces a highly effective anti-fraud concept called External Deterrence Theory (EDT) based on ten years of immersive study on white-collar perps and their family members. EDT takes participants into the deep perils of investigation, prosecution, incarceration, and beyond. Because ethics plays such a large role in decision making in the workplace, and because it is a vital component of any compliance program, one of the six modules includes an immersive session on compartmentalized ethics.

Anti-fraud programming that thoroughly captivates and deters workers from malfeasance is the new gold star in compliance programming. Software to detect fraud after a crime has already been committed or to prevent crime with prescriptive measure has become the norm in addressing workplace fraud or other related compliance issues, but it is not a winning approach to deter fraudulent behavior from occurring. Prevention is the key to deterrence and A New Perspective on Deterrence is the portal to results driven anti-fraud programming and serves as a waterproof umbrella to keep workers and companies on the right side of regulatory guidelines and the law, while also keeping families safe from the catastrophic fallout of occupational crime.

It is the company’s job to provide compliance and ethics training to employees. It is the WCWP’s job to give workers good reason to comply.

A New Perspective On Detererrence:

Module I

Introduction to A New Perspective on Deterrence

Module II

External Deterrence Theory

Module III

From Investigation to Incarceration and Beyond

Module IV

Taxes on Fraudulent Income

Module V

Profiling the White-Collar Criminal

Module VI

Compartmentalized Ethics

Verified Course Evaluation Samples

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) - Austin, Texas Chapter: (Credited Webinar)

Lisa,

I was very fortunate to hear your presentation for IMA-San Antonio last night and wanted to say it was exceptional. I had 5 students from my Accounting Ethics class attend virtually with me...and, we all said "A+."

I know you have lots on your plate...but, also wanted to ask about Feb. 7 for a virtual presentation to the Austin ACFE. The officers are eager to have you present to our group. You and your work are much appreciated!

Sincerely,

Carolyn Conn, Clinical Assistant Professor, Austin ACFE

Link - https://acotaocfe.wildapricot.org/event-4670785

66.6% - Excellent

29.63% - Very Good

3.70% - Good

0.00% - Fair

0.00% - Poor

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) - Houston, Tx Chapter - Credited Seminar

Link - https://houstonacfe.org/event-4729761?emulatemode=

Sample of Course Evaluation

“Good subject. Very informative.”

“Ms. Lawler was amazing. She is extremely knowledgeable…and that’s been hard earned. She has a lot to offer fraud examiners and attorneys.”

“Great!”

“Well Done’”

“I wish the session could have been longer, mainly because the speaker was really interesting.”

“Fascinating. I had no idea about the aftermath for families. You usually only hear about what happens to the accused.”

“I enjoyed the speaker, and the subject!”

Don’t let the word “wives” fool you as some of the most powerful and accomplished women in the world have been wives and mothers who have not only led countries and corporations at the highest level, but have been highly successful at taking the lead in some of the most important grassroots social issues of the day that affect us all. Occupational crime is not only a company issue, but is also a growing familial and social issue that must be addressed with effective deterrent measures.

Greed rather than need is a growing epidemic. Unsuspecting family members get swept away in the prosecution of white-collar criminal acts and have much more to lose than corporations do. The WCWP has stepped into the compliance space because we are experts on this subject, and have a vested interest in compliance. Clearly, the stakes are high for all concerned parties regarding effective anti-fraud programming.

Is your organization doing all it can to deter fraud in your workplace?