Forensic accountants fighting corruption

BELGRADE - Forensic accounting implies comprehensive investigation of criminal activities and integration of knowledge in accounting, auditing and investigation techniques, and deals with monitoring the business reality pertaining to events and environments, said the participants of the first international conference on fighting business fraud and corruption on Thursday.

"Over the course of the transition that our country has gone through, knowledge has been lost, as have opportunities to acquire new knowledge for the fight against corruption," said Radomir Ilic, state secretary at the Ministry of Economy.

The state administration is unable to keep track of cash flows because it lacks the knowledge of forensic accountants, Ilic said opening the conference, which ends on Friday.

Forensic accountants are involved in equal measure in preliminary, investigation and court proceedings as profilers or experts, said Miroslava Milenovic, a member of the Anti-Corruption Council.

On global level, countries are joining forces, adopting regulations on fighting corruption, and the way each country perceives corruption is very significant because it defines how a suitable reaction can be made, said Milena Vermezovic Petrovic, an accountant with the Ernst & Young auditing company.

Anonymous tip-offs are the most efficient way of detecting fraud, because as many as 40 percent of all misappropriations have been discovered this way, and it is very important to set up anonymous tip-off lines, but the fact is that it is not easy at all, she said.

The goal of the conference is to provide participants with relevant, practical and economical tools for identifying and quantifying real risks, aid the process of...