An expert in forensic investigation has emphasised the need for internal auditors to embrace tip-offs and whistleblowing as important weapons to expose and fight fraud-related issues.

Wilfred Neneh Addico said research conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) across companies in the world revealed that about 46% of fraud cases were identified through tip-offs and whistleblowing.

He said volunteering information to the Internal Audit Function would accelerate the fight against the canker in the country.

Mr Addico made these remarks on the sidelines of a capacity-building workshop on forensic investigation, organised by Makers and Partners (MAP), a chartered accountancy firm, in collaboration with the ACFE Ghana Chapter.

It aimed at equipping the internal auditors with the requisite skills for forensic investigation to safeguard the Judicial Service from internal threats such as fraud and misconduct.

The 55 participants from the Judicial Service were taken through the intricacies of effective planning, practical and useful skills for evidence gathering and preservation using the appropriate techniques and tools including adequate documentation of procedures performed to obtain evidence.

Mr Addico, facilitator of the workshop, observed that for internal auditors to be able to deal with fraud in the Judicial Service there was a need to create channels for people to report, including anonymous reporting.

“So that the fraud that is happening in the environment can come to their attention and then they can be able to investigate it, not just to deal with the issue of probability but to improve internal controls”.

He further stated that usually, fraudsters were able to commit fraud by overriding controls, or in an environment where the controls are absent or completely broken down; they exploit it to their advantage.

Robert Nii Aryee Tackie, Head of Internal Audit at Judicial Service, who commended MAP for providing the requisite training added that this would enhance their reporting and internal audit work.

He said there had been instances where internal auditors have been called upon to face a disciplinary committee headed by a Judge, and sometimes issues are being raised against the report thereby making it unacceptable".

Dr Rebecca Atswei Lomo, President of ACFE Ghana Chapter also underscored the need for auditors to be trained, to know how to execute investigations and produce quality reports that could stand the test of the courts.

She said ACFE’s mission was to educate and train its members to be well-equipped in fraud examination to effectively deal with those issues when the need arose.

The President of ACFE Ghana Chapter said the Association would celebrate its week (every 2nd week in November) and added that it would hold its first conference on November 15 to 16, and urged the public to participate.

“We will educate the public on how they can protect themselves against fraudsters and scammers on the internet”.

Oh his part, Alfred Aryee, a partner at MAP, said that the intention was to build the capacity of the participants; by organising refresher courses on the new things happening in the space of forensic audit.

He said the gesture was part of the Firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility, adding that “we are empowering state-owned agencies to build their internal audit department to help fight fraud-related cases”.