Fraud Accountants a Growing Field in Declining Economy

When Ron Forster conducts interviews, he watches his subjects as much as he listens to them. He monitors their eyes. He watches their arms. He notes where they place their hands.

Even a seemingly innocuous gesture -- an interviewee moving his hand away from his face right before answering a sensitive question -- could be a sign that a subject is lying.

And you thought accounting was boring.

Mr. Forster is a forensic accountant -- a growing subset of the accounting field focusing on uncovering financial fraud.

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Fraud Investigation Growing Strong

One of the few growth industries in the current economic climate? Fraud investigators.

Allegations of fraud are increasing, as the financial crisis drags on. As a result, reports the New York Times, people who are skilled at following the money have rarely been more in demand.

The FBI is recruiting new hires to work on a glut of cases -- it had more than 1600 open mortgage-fraud investigations at the end of fiscal 2008, almost twice as many as two years earlier.

And private fraud investigation firms are enjoying boom times. The number of certified examiners is said to be up 10 percent compared with last year.

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Madoff Pleads Guilty to Ponzi Fraud

Saying he was "deeply sorry and ashamed," Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty Thursday to pulling off perhaps the biggest swindle in Wall Street history and was immediately led off to jail in handcuffs to the delight of his seething victims. Madoff, 70, could get up to 150 years in prison when he is sentenced in June.

In refusing to let the disgraced financier remain free on bail until then, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin noted that Madoff had the means to flee and an incentive to do so.

The plea did not satisfy many investors who had hoped Madoff would be forced to name any family members or others who helped him swindle them out of billions of dollars. He pleaded guilty to all 11 charges against him — with no deal with prosecutors — meaning he is under no obligation to disclose names and tell authorities where the money went. He is not believed to be cooperating with prosecutors.

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Police Warn Against Internet Fraud

Finding a thief who preys on his victims through the Internet can be like chasing a ghost, investigators said.

In the past week, two Aiken area residents trying to sell jewelry learned the hard way that criminals will target even reputable trade papers.

Aiken Public Safety investigators said the two recent victims lost collectively in excess of $15,000 when they tried to sell their rings through buying an advertisement in a national trade paper. The victims didn't know each other but purchased similar ads trying to sell their rings to interested buyers.

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