SUNY Canton Assistant Professor Coauthors Article on Occupational Fraud Trends

Occupational fraud is on the rise, and internal auditors hold responsibility to work with the organization’s governance to curb white-collar crime, according to a SUNY Canton faculty member’s latest publication.

Ran Li, an assistant professor in the school of business and liberal arts who teaches accounting and auditing, joined two peers to author Occupational Fraud Trends and Implications in the May/June edition of “Internal Auditing.”

Accounting Experience - SUNY Canton Assistant Professor Ran Li teaches an accounting class in November 2019. Li recently coauthored a new article on occupational fraud.

Based on ten years of data collected from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ “Report to the Nations,” the article analyzes and summarizes the occupational fraud trends and implications. The authors point out that the overall occupational fraud trend is alarming and total fraud losses have more than doubled since 2010.

“Internal auditors should remain diligent and current on emerging trends and implement strategies to counteract fraud cases at all levels,” Li said. “Internal auditors should help promote a culture of fraud awareness and ensure training of management and employees on the types of financial crime.”

The major types of occupational fraud include corruption, asset misappropriation and fraudulent statements. In 2018, the median loss for financial fraud statement cases was approximately $800,000, compared to $250,000 for corruption cases and $114,000 for asset misappropriation cases. Overall, less than 60% of fraud cases were ever referred to law enforcement.

Some mitigation strategies include management reviews, proactive monitoring and surprise audits.

In addition to her academic credentials, Li has more than 15 years of professional experience in accounting, taxes and auditing. She’s worked for global corporations and helps orchestrate the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program at SUNY Canton. While working toward a Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) in accounting at The University of Scranton, Pennsylvania, she worked alongside coauthors Daniel Gaydon, who is also an accounting doctorate student, and Douglas M. Boyle, associate professor and accounting department chair of the DBA program.

“Internal Auditing” is a publication designed to give insight into compliance issues, risk assessment, fraud prevention, corporate governance, information technology auditing, among other topics. It is published six times each year for a primary audience of accountants, auditors and chief financial officers.