How to curb transport expenses corruption by your staffs

Employee Corruption
Companies can mitigate exposure to employee corruption by:

• Hiring ethical people. 
• Developing, documenting, and regularly communicating high ethical standards for all business dealings and activities. 
• Ensuring that ethics program training and manuals include practical guidance for the real situations faced by employees.
• Insisting that company leadership set a high ethical example and “play by the rules.” Developing a culture that supports, and expects, the reporting of ethical lapses. 
• Taking appropriate, consistent action when ethical issues arise and violations occur. 

CASE STUDY

Time and Expense Issues 

George, an employee of ABC Company, travels extensively on company business. George's manager routinely approves his expense account after only a cursory examination. This cursory review has helped George find several ways to “beat the system” and obtain reimbursement payments for which he is not entitled. 

How does George take advantage of his employer? Mischaracterization of meal and entertainment expenses—George and his friends frequently go out to dinner at expensive restaurants in the city.  

George charges these meals on the company credit card and submits an expense report that falsely indicates he was entertaining clients and conducting other company business. 

Overstated expenses—George collects blank receipts from taxi cab drivers and other sources, completes these receipts to indicate a higher expense than was actually incurred, and submits the receipts for company reimbursement. 

Fictitious receipts—George's business travels sometimes include meals that are paid for by business associates or included as part of an event he is attending. In these cases, George uses his personal computer to produce a counterfeit “receipt” for separate meals that never took place and submits the fictitious receipt. 

Altered receipts—George alters receipts by increasing the Naira amount shown on the receipts and altering the dates and other information on old personal receipts to make them appear current and business-related. 

If this trend continues,It might afeect the cash flow of the Company of the Company.

An effective program for combating employee expense reimbursement fraud should include, among others, the following policies: 

• Accept only original supporting documents. 
• Require written explanation and replacements for lost original receipts. 
• Closely examine excessive incidents of “lost receipts” and refuse to reimburse the expenses.
• Require timely submission of fully supported employee expense reports. 
• Have the employee's business unit supervisor or manager conduct a prepayment review of the employee's expense reports and conduct review of original documentation submitted periodically. 
• Require an additional review of “corrected” employee expense reports. 
• Conduct a monthly internal audit of employee expense reports and related company credit card use.

Squeezing water out of stone

Episode 1

John was so excited. He was running around the house and feeling like a Vulture encircling a carcass.

‘' I am the happiest man on the earth''. John exclaimed. ‘‘I remembered when I was dating Cynthia, I was so happy that I met her, but it was obvious that Cynthia and I was not the perfect match. It was so horrible that I cried like a little child the day Cynthia called off our relationship’’.

John reminisced the good days with Cynthia and how they will wink at each other especially at public places. It was a very beautiful time for John; however, John knew that the happy mood that serenades him now is not the same feeling as Cynthia three years ago.

This feeling is quite different. This feeling is a feeling of life in Eldorado.

Gina has agreed to marry John after three years of courtship. ‘‘All through my teenage years, I am always thrilled when I saw uncle Charles and his wife’' John told his brother Jude,'‘ I saw their that their love was not based on what we watch on TV but their Love was real and captivating that he became the standard for our family''.

Jude nodded his head and said ‘' My brother, I concur with you and I also remember that I was there too during my holidays and I was really endeared to them'', Jude chipped in and John heaved a sigh of relief and said ‘‘My brother that imagination of Eldorado is here with me, Gina and I will continue the blaze of love in the family' and Jude shouted ‘Yes, yes, yes!.

Jude was so happy for his brother because he knew of the other heartbreaks he has gone through.

Episode 2

Gina was a young hardworking lady that works in a consulting outfit in Lecky, Lagos Nigeria.

Lecky is famous for being the hub of the crème de la crème in Lagos; Lecky is definitely the place to be. Lecky is a major part of the Lagos Island, fondly called the Island by Lagosians.

Gina lives and works in Lecky and she is happy to have agreed to marry John.

Gina has had her fair share of heartbreak with men. She was coming from a relationship that ended with pain and sorrow.

She met Amos (a handsome young man) in a restaurant where she went to eat during her break and somehow they became friends and one thing led to another and Amos promised her marriage.

‘‘Are you sure, you know this man very well? Do you know any of his friends? Do you know his office? I have a feeling that something is not right, I do not know'' Gina elder sister Priscilla quizzed Gina.

She was not comfortable with Amos, but you know what they say ‘Love is Blind'' Gina continued with the relationship.

On this fateful day, Gina went to see Amos without calling him that she was coming to see him. Gina knocked the door and Amos opened the door, but was upset that Gina did not call him earlier.

Gina said ‘‘are you saying that I have to call you before I come to see you all the time'’. Gina feeling infuriated, ‘'Amos are you hiding something from me? Amos, you do not pick my calls at night in the last two months''

 Gina breathed a sigh of disbelief in her countenance as he was busy with his newspaper.

Amos stood up to cuddle Gina and as he stood up, something fell off from Amos breast pocket and he was not aware of it, Gina stepped on it freakishly and played along with Amos that morning.

Gina said ‘'Amos, kindly give me water to drink'' Gina voiced changed from a thundering roar to a cat meow.

Immediately Amos stepped to the kitchen, Gina quickly hides the complimentary card into his bag and played along all through the day.

As Gina was going home that day, she brought out the card and her temperature rose to ‘'100 degree Celsius''

She saw on the card ‘' Pastor Barnabas, the founder of the church of the light Ministry'' Gina was dumbfounded. Her heart rose so many times that evening as she walked home.

 She started shivering and her joints began to shake. It was a terrible moment for Gina.

Amos told her he was a lawyer and she has seen Amos on many occasions in his lawyer wig and clothing. She has seen clients visiting Amos for legal business.

 Most Sundays, when she invites Amos to her church, he always declines and say ‘' baby, I'm busy, I need to round up a case I am handling''.

Amos real name is Barnabas and the phone numbers on the card matches all the phone numbers of Amos. Gina went to work the following day and manages to work normally as if everything was alright. Joy was Gina friend and colleague at work and she understands Gina very well.

Though Gina tried to downplay any problem, but Joy knew that something was wrong. ‘'Common Gina, I know you, tell me, something is wrong’’ Joy told Gina during their break time’’

Gina told Joy what happened over the weekend and they devised a plan. They will locate ‘‘the church of the light Ministry''. They came very early to the church and hide and watch as church members started coming in for their church service.

Around 9 am, Gina and Joy saw Amos coming out from a jeep with a woman and three children. ‘'That must be his wife, is he married? He deceived me for two years, how can I fall to his trap? ''Gina ranted and cried as she tried to approach him.

 Joy held her'' Calm down we will embarrass publicly, Let us join in their service and while he is preaching, he will sight us from the podium and we will make a scene that will be very difficult to disrepute''

 Gina concurred.  Two hours into the Service, Gina and Joy walked into the Church and sat in the front seat. Amos looked up and saw Gina, his countenance changed and he was trembling.

He told his assistant pastor to continue the ministering. He went straight to his office behind the church altar. Gina and Joy followed him. ‘’Master craft, master craft, you have used me and achieve your means. My sister told me and I didn’t listen to her. How long did you think this was to last?''

Gina started shredding the disgraced man into pieces and all the while he kept quiet.

Immediately Amos wife came and entered the office,'' barn, what is going on?'' Gina snapped'' ohm, you are Barnabas and not Amos''. Gina told Amos wife everything that has transpired and the other church members who heard what happened were so disappointed. Gina and Joy left the scene.

EPISODE 3

Gina and John have both moved on with their lives and they are very happy. As time progresses, Gina became pregnant and when John proposed marriage, Gina agreed to marry John.

As the day go by, John visited the parents of Gina, and he was told of the customs and ritual to be done before marriage.

John was eager to meet up all the requirements because he loves Gina so much.

Gina registered for antenatal and from time to time John will visit Gina every Saturday and shower her with gifts.

On this fateful day, Gina called John and told him that the doctors want her to undergo some tests. ‘'Gina dear, is that a problem?'' John asked Gina in a very lovely romantic tone.'' Please, my dear, I want you to be there''. John agreed to be there and the test was carried out, and they were told to come back two weeks from that time for the results.

They went for the results on that fateful day. The doctor told Gina to come in alone. John was shocked, and he snapped immediately,'' I am the father of the child, Yes we are not yet married, but we will marry soon. I want to come with her''.

The doctor insisted that Gina must be seen alone with the doctor and persuaded John to understand. John gave up and Gina went it with the doctor. The doctor requested his secretary to call Mrs Daniels (She is the HIV and AIDS counsellor in that hospital) and Gina knew Mrs Daniels role.

 Her heart raced. Gina was not aware of the shock she was expecting. Her mind started joggling to many things and she told herself'' No, I am not wayward; maybe she is here to counsel me on John. No, she is here to tell how to be careful so I do no contact HIV. No, she is here to counsel me what motherhood looks like.

Her heart kept racing as she watches Mrs Daniel and the doctor engaged in a muted discussion.

Mrs Daniel came to Gina and said'' Gina, can youexcuse us for 20 minutes? I will call you later''

Gina came out and saw John doze off. John was tired from work and hadn’t slept very well for some days because of work schedule

Gina watched john slept graciously on the seat and she started to reminisce how John has been different from the other men she had dated, John was a straightforward, honest, loving and a very decent young man.

She imagined what Mrs Daniels and the doctor could be talking about. She watched as they attended to other patients who had an appointment with the doctor. She just couldn't imagine anything but she just watched John sleep so graciously.

Episode 4

The doctor called Gina after 3 hours. Mrs Daniel was there and they told Gina that'' We have conducted all tests that need to be done Ultrasound test for fetal nuchal translucency (NT), Two maternal serum (blood) tests. BP test level, Sugar test level etc.

The entire test came out good. However, we are sorry to inform you that you tested for HIV. Your HIV test shows that you are HIV positive. That means you have the virus in.......'

Gina retorted, ‘‘Stop it, Doctor, and Stop it. Am I a Kid? I know what HIV means and I understand the consequences ‘'.

Gina cried and told the doctor to check the test result again. She said that the tests might have been mixed up and that the doctor should check again. The Doctor advised Gina to conduct the same test at another hospital.

Mrs Daniels was trying to bring her counselling tips and advice into play when Gina walked out of the Office.

She woke him up. ‘‘Ohm Gina, I am so sorry, I slept off, how did it go? Why all these acting displays from the doctor? ‘'Gina did not tell John what transpired and told John that they should leave.

Gina told John that she wants to conduct the tests in another hospital for a second opinion and John was dismayed because he was clueless about what was going on. ‘'What is happening? I am confused. ‘' John asked her fiancée gently.

Gina lied to John about it and they drove to another hospital for a second opinion. The entire test was carried out and they were told to come for the result in two weeks time.

Gina persuaded John to stop pestering about the test result and that they should wait for the second result in two weeks time. Gina relapsed on her bed and was so devastated. She cried all through the night.

She wondered how she came in contact with the virus. Thoughts of suicide raced through Gina as she watches the fan. She touched her baby. She remembered John and she imagines the reaction of John. ‘'Will John run from me? Am I really an HIV patient? How? How? I know most of the schoolmates who are so wayward and indecent, but they do not have HIV? Why me? Why? ‘'

Gina tried to console herself with the fact that the second test result will come good. ‘'I am so sure that my second result will vindicate me. I am so sure ‘'Gina told herself confidently. Gina went into Prayer and fasting during the two weeks’ time, and she kept everything to herself.

Episode 5

John and Gina drove to the hospital for the results. They waited in the lobby of the hospital and the doctor called both of them in. The doctor told the secretary to call the HIV counsellor and by this time Gina knew that all hell is let loose. Gina knew that she is indeed HIV positive.

 ‘' Georgina Madu.  Who is this man?' The doctors ask Gina. Gina answered ‘' He is my fiancé. The father of my baby''

The doctor said’’ the test results conducted shows that your baby is healthy and you are fine and.’’ John cuts in and seemed temporarily relieved and shouted ‘Yes, I knew that my baby and my little angel are all fine, so doctor thank you so much, so ----''

The Doctor cut in and told John to calm down. He told him that everything is fine but the HIV result of his wife shows that she is HIV positive. John sat with astonishment and he farts so loud.

The fart was not nauseating to Gina and John but the doctor and the counsellor who ran out of their office. 

John and Gina savoured the nauseating fart for 15 minutes. They did not say anything to each other. John left the room and went to see the doctor and after paying the bills. He came back to the office and he told her ‘' Gina, let us go''.

When John drove Gina off to her house there were no customary kisses and hugs. Suicide thoughts rose through the mind of Gina until she slept off. John got home and brooded over the matter so much.

John loves Gina so much. She was a very easy going and carefree person. He understands what HIV is and he knew that he could also be in danger. He drove to a hospital in Lecky who conducts quick HIV test and he found out that he was HIV negative.

He went the next day to another hospital and he was HIV negative. Gina refused to tell Joy, her colleague and she kept everything to herself.

Episode 6

John called Gina on Friday and told her to meet her at Brown cafe (A popular cafe, eatery, drinks bar in Lecky). ‘'Gina you know.......'' Gina cuts in. ‘' I know you want to quit, I am very dirty and filthy. John, you are a nice man and you do not deserve me, I am .........''

John stopped Gina from going further. ‘' Gina, you are HIV Positive. I am not. If I walk away from you, heaven will not hold me accountable but my heart will.

My little angel in your womb will hold me accountable. The reason why I didn't call you for the past few days is that I was doing research on HIV and non-HIV partners and I have come to the realisation that it has worked out for most people.

This is our dirty linen and we will promise to hold it dearly to our chest. Gina, I will not leave you. I repeat, I will not leave you. I will stand with you. Is that not what Love is supposed to be? You and I have come a long way and HIV or no HIV will not come between us. We will manage our situation and we shall succeed''

Gina knelt down and started crying profusely and everybody was astounded. John cuddled Gina up and Gina let out a smelly fart. Everybody left the cafe because of the fart but nobody has the courage to approach them. The fart did not smell to Gina and John.  ‘'

My wonderful baby, your fart smells like chocolate'' John told Gina. Gina replied'' Your fart at the hospital smells like chocolate''

John and Gina's relationship took another positive turn from that day. Gina registered with an HIV/AIDS counselling unit where she was given free ARV drugs on a monthly basis.

The hospital helped them so much during the course of the pregnancy.

‘’Squeezing water from a stone is a very difficult task but I think that John has shown us that Love supersede everyththing’’ Gina Mother shouted with Joy when she heard all that happened. Gina became an advocate for HIV discrimination agencies in her area and her story became a spring board for people living with HIV in her area.(Despite Gina HIV status, John married Gina).

Gina gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and three months later they were married.

STEPS TO START BLOGGING IN NIGERIA

The world is intertwined into a global village as a result of the influx of information generated online. This gives birth to blogging which has become a vital means of disseminating information through an online journal or informational website.

People are smiling to the bank through blogging in Nigeria and in this article, I will be showing steps on how to set up a successful blog in Nigeria so as to be the next ‘bellanaija' or ‘lindaikeji'.

 Determine the idea you want to sell.

 People who are effective at getting buy-in are immersed in their idea fully by identifying the idea that has strong influencing skills. Prepare your mind and you must show them how your idea will make the "after" better than the "now'. There are many ideas that you can craft.

Are you a computer and IT specialist? Are you good with the training of animals? Are you a mobile phone and laptop repair? Can you barbecue very well? Are u a dry cleaner? Are you a cobbler? Are you familiar with sports, entertainment gist? Are you good at editing materials? The list is endless.

The idea can be sold to an online audience,

Set aside a budget

Starting a business comes with a lot of risks, most of which can seriously impact your finances. To be able to succeed as a blogger, you need to set aside a set amount of money for the business. The first step to becoming a successful blogger is to get your laptop.

The laptop is very important for this kind of business, though some new bloggers started off at a cybercafé, it is not advisable to do blogging at a public cafe.

So it is very important that you get a laptop. Set aside money for an effective internet connection module. The major expenses are the constant internet connection because blogging is a time-consuming business. The more time you spend blogging, the more expenses you are incurring.

However, the amount set aside as a new newbie may be restricted to only buying a laptop, books on blogging, internet connection plan.

If you endeavour to set aside a reasonable amount of money on these aforementioned things, your blogging business is on the right track and you must treat your blogging business as a real job and dedicate at least 8 hours per day on it. Get the tools needed.

Read and learn from other bloggers

Knowledge is power and the knowledge is best acquired from experienced people. Get to work. Subscribe to successful bloggers like Neil Patel, Sophie Lizard and Loy Okieze and get trained on the tricks and tips of professional blogging. Downloads their manual and read it with keen interest to understand the secrets of blogging and their success stories.

Join bloggers group on social media and mingle with people of the same aims and goal as you. Buy books that will guide and support you in blogging .visit other blogs in your niche area and see what they are doing, and learn how to do it also.

Blogging is all about writing

The importance of writing as a blogger cannot be overemphasized. Blogging stems from the fact that writing is the main basis upon which communication is transferred. Practice on your writing skill regularly.

Writing is the framework of our communication.

As a blogger, you must improve on your writing skills. There are many writing skills and development apps you can download. This would help you and guide you as a blogger.

Good writing skills allow you to communicate your message with clarity and extend your reach to a far larger audience. This is the essence of blogging.

Register your blog on a blogging platform for free.

There are many free platforms include blogging.com and wordpress.com. After choosing your blogging platform, click register. If you want to use BlogSpot for example, go to www.blogger.com. If you would like to start on Wordpress, go to www.wordpress.com. I choose both for my blogging business.

Register with Social media and interactive media online.

If you have not registered with any social media, this is the right time. This is the best place to showcase your expertise.

If you are already active in social media, instead of spending an endless hour with idle chat through social media, monetise your membership with this social media and publicise your expertise.

This is the time to make good use of your Facebook handle, twitter handle. Pinterest, snapchat, Instagram and LinkedIn handles etc

Post quality content in these handle on a daily basis. Drive traffic to your blog through these handles. Ensure that the content you generate through your blog is not plagiarised.

 Do not copy and paste from the internet.   Share videos about your work and post it through your social media. Post content on a daily basis.

Be consistent and hardworking

The common saying by bloggers is that ‘blogging is a rich gold mine'. However, I can tell you that blogging is not easy. Remember, consistency doesn't happen over a day or two. It takes time to become a consistent blogger.

If you run a blog, you need to be consistent. That means maintaining your blog posting schedule, no matter what comes.

Do you want to build traffic to your blog? You need to be regularly adding fresh content such as ideas, videos and quality information to your blog. Sometimes you may do all of the aforementioned things but you are yet to generate traffic to your blog, do not give up.

Your Information is very crucial!!

Start today to work on your content process, and one day your blog will stand out as truly excellent.

Word of mouth advert

To be a successful blogger isn't immediate. One of the biggest frustrations with blogging is that it's time-consuming at the beginning. One can easily give up.

One important way to create effective awareness for your blog is by using WOM method.

Getting a recommendation about your business from a friend or acquaintance can be the confidence booster you need. Your friends will be your best critique and blog enhancer.

WHY THERE IS FREE HOSTING BUT THERE IS NO FREE OFFSHORE HOSTING

Web hosting is fundamental in owing and acquiring a website. Why do you need to host your website?

Think of a man who owns a house. Some household item purchased are kept in the storehouse. He goes to the storehouse and picks whatever he want to pick and when he is done with it, he returns it back. That is the basis of hosting your website.

The web host manages all your files that make up your website and store it in HTML or CSS files, documents, media files and more. The host company will manage all your files and make it easier for accessibility.

Most web hosting companies offer free hosting services to their customers so as to attract website owners to their portal. The truth is that the web hosting service does not make a loss in this venture because Webhosting companies use this free website to make money for themselves by placing an advert, banners and other forms of advertisement to earn revenue.

The website owner does not control and completely own a free hosted website. So it is a win-win situation for web hosting companies to offer free hosting to website owners. Some Companies that offer free hosting service include, wordpress.com, blogger.com.

When a website is hosted to some far off place from your place of origin, it is called 'offshore web hosting'. I hosted my website (though defunct now)' www.preventfraud.com in India some year back. Offshore hosting is not usually free because of the demerits of offshore hosting.

Some offshore hosting companies provide completely anonymous service, requiring no identifying information is provided by the customer.

Payment is made through Bitcoin or cash, and communication is handled strictly through an anonymous e-mail account.

People opt for offshore web hosting to evade laws and regulations. The Webhosting Company are aware of this and they rarely offer free hosting services.

ARE YOU SETTING UP A SMALL COMPANY? MY ADVICE.

As a young firm,fraud,errors,manipulation,collusions are major hinderances to a start up. I will concentrate on work place fraud.

Workplace fraud is a common, everyday occurrence. Every business—large or small,es[ecially start up—is vulnerable to these crimes.

Workplace fraud can have a substantial impact on a business's “bottom line” and even on its continued survival and success. The financial impact of workplace fraud can be significant and can occur in the form of direct, indirect, and/or intangible costs. In addition to direct losses of tangible assets, such as cash, inventory, and securities, loss of competitive advantage, reduced ability to meet customer needs, reputation impairment, and disruption of business operations are some of the potential indirect and/or intangible costs to a business.

C O M M O N F R A U D S C H E M E S

This section offers illustrations of common fraud schemes for consideration in assessing your business risks. All names are fictitious and not intended to be or imply real persons or companies.I used it for the purpose of this discussion.

Vendor Schemes Payments to outside vendors represent a significant outflow of funds for most companies. Therefore, it is important to understand vendor fraud risks. Vendor Management “Ghost” vendors represent a common fraud device used by company insiders who have the abilities to approve new vendors to receive payments and to authorize such payments. In these types of schemes, a dishonest employee may establish a phony vendor account(s) that he or she controls and then direct fraudulent payments to that account(s). CASE STUDY Ade, a human resources manager for ABC Company, has authority over an annual training budget of N10 million. She routinely contracts with new vendors for training programs and approves payments to those vendors.

Ade asks Accounts Payable to establish a new vendor account for “XYZ Consulting Services” and authorizes payments to XYZ amounting to N5,000,000.00 over a six-month period. A subsequent inquiry about XYZ results in discovery that:

XYZ Consulting Services is a shell vendor operating out of a mail drop address. Ade is the only person associated with XYZ Consulting Services. XYZ Consulting Services never provided goods or services of any kind to ABC Company.

The invoices provided to Accounts Payable by Ade were never challenged, even though the service description was vague and no service agreement, nor any other documentation, was present in the Company files.

In many companies, vendor payments above a certain amount are subject to closer scrutiny, higher level approvals, or special reporting. In these cases, to avoid detection, an employee may set up multiple ghost vendors and make only one or two smaller fraudulent payments to each.Companies should be alert to suspicious patterns of vendor payments, including those that are “just under the radar” in terms of required approvals, reporting, or other company procedures.

Similar to a ghost vendor scheme is the dishonest employee who “takes over” a legitimate vendor account. In this case, the employee may simply change the mailing address shown in the vendor profile for an inactive company to one the employee controls. Of course, invoices begin to arrive from the formerly inactive company. Ghost-vendor schemes may also utilize company names that are intended to be similar to well-known, established vendors (e.g., a legitimate vendor named “Churchgate Group.” may be reestablished as a ghost vendor under the name “Chu Gate Ltd” or “C.Gate Ltd”

Cash Handling

CASE STUDY Obi worked as a clerk in a start up retail store. The point-of-sale scanning equipment he used to ring up customer purchases automatically captured the price of each item sold. Per company internal controls, all “till” was routinely counted and balanced at the end of each shift and discrepancies were not tolerated. Despite the apparent controls, Obi found opportunities to defraud his employer by:

Cash skimming: Obi often pocketed the cash paid by customers. In order to prevent detection and make sure that his till balanced at the end of his shift, Obi substituted large quantities of coupons that he clipped from the local paper for the cash he stole.

Skip scanning: When Obi rang up purchases for his friends and family, he often skipped the scanning of the most expensive items. These items went into the shopping bag, and out of the store, without payment.

Unauthorized discounts: Obi provided friends and family with unauthorized “discounts” on merchandise by overriding the scanned price and manually entering a reduced figure.

Fake refunds: Obi also took cash from the register till and covered for the shortage by falsely reporting cash purportedly paid out to customers as refunds

Responding to the threat of fraud can be challenging.

There is no “cookiecutter” fraud response strategy that is appropriate for every business. The diversity of fraud risks associated with different business environments and situations requires that fraud risk responses be appropriate for the specific business operations, business environment, and fraud experience. Consider that the “ideal fraud opportunity” might include any of the following factors: A weakness in the internal control system or the ability to easily override ■ ■ ■ ■

R E S P O N D I N G T O T H E T H R E A T O F F R A U D ■

1. Pressures or incentives to commit fraud sufficient to overcome the pressures or incentives not to commit fraud. the control system (i.e., an opportunity).
2. Pressures or incentives to commit fraud sufficient to overcome the pressures or incentives not to commit fraud.
3. Perceived reward for fraud is relatively high. Perceived risk of detection is relatively low. Potential penalty, if caught, is perceived as being small or relatively inconsequential.
4. Limit fraud opportunities by establishing strong internal controls and limiting overrides of those controls.
5. Manage pressures and incentives inherent in the business process (to the extent this is possible).
6. Focus fraud prevention and detection efforts on risks where potential financial loss is the greatest or where cumulative losses from smaller frauds may be significant.
7. Foster a strong “perception of detection” through proactive efforts by you.
8. Ensure that you are actively involve in your business.
9. if your background is not finance or account related,attend fresher course so as to have an overview of finance and acounting.
10. Create a whistle blowing haven and huge reward scheme.

IMPACT OF THE HEAVYWEIGHT SHOWDOWN BETWEEN CHINA AND USA.
The seemingly trade war between China and the US does not seem to have an end at least for now. This has divided opinion in the west whether the tariff increase that was first initiated by Donald Trump was justified. The series of tariff imposition by both countries has led to a feeling of fear amongst trading partners.

The truth is that the US has accused China of many years of Intellectual property theft and sharp trade practices. The American feels that this scenario has been going unchecked for many years and that has contributed to China being the economic powerhouse they are today.
China has risen from an obscure country in the last 30 years to emerge as the second most economic superpower. Though growing concern by Americans on the impact of the trade war has been on the burning agenda in the last few days, however, my concern is, how does this 2 elephant fighting affect us in Africa?

China is the largest trading partner in Africa. The trade is worth over $300b and the investments in Africa seem to be on the rise on a yearly basis. Imposition of tariffs on China imported raw material or semi-finished goods from America will lead to high cost of production by Chinese firms. As a result of the high cost of production incurred by Chinese firms, they will want to recoup the cost or additional cost incurred as a result of the high tariff imposed upon them by American companies.

The Chinese companies that export the goods within the category will increase the prices for such goods. The Implication is that most African importers will pay more for goods from Chinese firms. The additional cost on the African importer will be transferred to consumers in Africa who will pay more for Goods imported by Chinese importers.
The additional prices of good might reduce the disposable income of the African consumers who are struggling with harsh economic policies.

According to an old Chinese saying from The Art of War by Sun Tzu goes as "killing 10,000 of enemies and sacrificing 3,000 of own soldiers", implying the winning of this war is not worth the while. From my point of view, the losses caused by the trade war would far outweigh the gains and this has led to many respected public figures to voice out their concern. The IMF president and the Governor of the Bank of England vehemently voice out their concern; the Trump administration will not win in any sense. A trade war in today's world is not even a zero-sum game but a lose-lose situation with no winners - just a loser and a bigger loser.

WORK PLACE FRAUD

WORK PLACE FRAUD

.Workplace fraud is a common, everyday occurrence. Every business—large or small—is vulnerable to these crimes.

Workplace fraud can have a substantial impact on a business's “bottom line” and even on its continued survival and success. The financial impact of workplace fraud can be significant and can occur in the form of direct, indirect, and/or intangible costs.

In addition to direct losses of tangible assets, such as cash, inventory, and securities, loss of competitive advantage, reduced ability to meet customer needs, reputation impairment, and disruption of business operations are some of the potential indirect and/or intangible costs to a business. The challenge of combating fraud directed against a business is increased by the diversity and deceptive nature of those crimes.

Deception is a key element of workplace fraud, and a company may realize too late that it has been victimized. An appropriate response to the threat of workplace fraud requires understanding potential areas that are “at risk,” recognizing the fraud-related threats, and understanding the potential fraud origination points, both internal and external.

Although it is not possible to completely eliminate fraud risk, it is possible to reduce the risk and to minimize fraud-related losses and other consequences through effective loss control measures. Fraud risk management includes establishing effective loss control measures that focus on prevention, detection, and response.

Given the potential costs of workplace fraud, proactive fraud risk management makes good business sense. Bottom line: Businesses are targets for crime because they have something of economic value.

Fraud perpetrators believe that they can successfully steal, ■  compromise, or use some of that value. There is virtually no limitation to the means that may be employed to accomplish a criminal objective. The criminal mind is ever alert to seemingly new and unique ways to separate a business from its assets. Crimes that businesses face generally may be categorized as: “Street crime,” such as robbery and burglary. “White-collar crime,” such as fraud, misconduct, and related financial threats. 

Defining Fraud Anti-fraud professionals agree that fraud (and misconduct) encompasses activities involving dishonesty and deception that can drain value from a business, either directly or indirectly, whether or not the perpetrator(s) benefit. Fraud involves the intent to defraud; that is, the perpetrator relies on · His or her deception to accomplish—or hide—the fraudulent activity. ·

Fraud is not accomplished via honest mistake or error. · Fraud can manifest itself in a wide variety of ways and originate from a number of different sources. · Fraud that is perpetrated by employees, consumers, and vendors dominates most instances of fraud experienced by businesses. Understanding the fraud threats against your business, as well as why fraud typically occurs, are first steps in analyzing fraud risk and developing an appropriate plan for managing that risk.