Forensic Accounting & Financial Criminology Courses at Royal Malaysia Police

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI HICoE) thanks the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) for inviting our fellows to facilitate in PDRM's one-week training program in Forensic Accounting.  The program was successfully facilitated by three ARI fellow/associates - Dr Syed Noh Syed Ahmad, Associate Professor Dr Halil Paino and Professor Dr Normah Omar.  Among the topics covered include financial statement analysis, financial statement fraud, corruption, fraud examination, procurement fraud and money laundering.  The program which was organised by the Financial Crime Unit of PDRM at Bukit Aman was to give exposure to investigation officers and to provide a platform for knowledge sharing among the officers who came from different parts of Malaysia. 

Welcome Aboard Associate Professor Dr Erlane

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) is delighted to welcome Associate Professor Dr Erlane K. Ghani, CPA as its new research fellow effective 1st September 2016.

 Dr Erlane's appointment will be for a period of three years.   Dr Erlane's research interest is in the area of internet financial reporting which will definitely synced well with ARI's research niche agenda in Islamic Financial Criminology.  In addition to research, Dr Erlane will also be tasked to facilitate with ARI's training programs and journal administration.  With an H-Index of 9, Dr Erlane is an avid writer and scholar and will certainly contributes to ARI's future development. Welcome aboard.

ARI Researchers for ERASMUS+ Program

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulates its two researchers - Research Fellow, Associate Professor Dr Faizah Darus and Research Associate, Associate Professor Dr Haslinda Yusuf who have been selected to participate in the joint Erasmus+ Staff Mobility program between Burgas Free University, Bulgaria and Universiti Teknologi MARA.   In 2013, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the two universities.  Among the programs agreed by both universities were staff exchange and research collaboration. Earlier in May 2016, three researchers from Burgas Free  University - Professor Baltov, Professor Kotseva and Professor Anastassova came to Universiti Teknologi MARA for one week and were assigned respectively to the Arshad Ayub Business School, Faculty of Media Studies and Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism. The dean of the Faculty of Hotel Management, Dr Mohammed Hemdi was the first lecturer/researcher from UiTM being sent to Bulgaria for this program in May 2016.  Whilst in Burgas Free University, Dr Faizah and Dr Haslinda will be teaching both financial reporting and sustainability reporting to the students there.  Both will also be pursuing possible research collaboration with researchers in Bulgaria.  Current research interest of both Associate Professor Dr Faizah and Associate Professor Dr Haslinda is in the area of Sustainability Reporting.  Dr Faizah is also currently leading a research cluster in Corporate Waqaf Sustainability and Governance under ARI HICoE's  niche in Islamic Financial Criminology.   For this visit, both researchers are fully sponsored by the Erasmus+ program.  Congratulations to both of you.

Congratulations ACFE-Certified Scholar

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulates the recent success of its post-doctoral scholar Dr Md Shamimul Hassan when the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) admits and accredits him as a certified fraud examiner. Dr Md Shamimul Hassan sat for the ACFE examination and passed all four papers.  The ACFE is the world's largest anti-fraud organization and premier provider of anti-fraud training and education. Together with more than 75,000 members, the ACFE is reducing business fraud worldwide and inspiring public confidence in the integrity and objectivity within the profession.  The Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential denotes proven expertise in fraud prevention, detection and deterrence. CFEs around the world help protect the global economy by uncovering fraud and implementing processes to prevent fraud from occurring in the first place. May this accreditation be the beginning of your future undertakings both in academic and research. We are very proud of you.

Oversight Panels of MACC

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is a government agency in Malaysia that investigates and prosecutes corruption in the public and private sectors. The agency was originally modeled after top anti-corruption agencies, such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) of Hong Kong and New South Wales, Australia.  Since its establishment in 2009, the MACC has been steadily discharging its duties and responsibilities as the primary agency tasked with weeding out corruption in Malaysia. In order to ensure MACC’s independence, transparency and professionalism, five separate and independent oversight bodies were formed to monitor the functions of the MACC an act as a check-and-balance. Members of these panels represent the general public and include senior former government officials, politicians (both from the government and the opposition), professionals, academicians, lawyers and individuals of high standing in society.

There are currently five independent bodies that monitor the MACC to ensure its integrity and to protect citizens’ rights. The five bodies are namely: the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board, the Special Committee on Corruption, the Complaints Committee, the Operations Review Panel, and the Corruption Consultation and Prevention Panel.  The existence of these independent oversight committees is a reflection of the MACC’s impartiality and independence, compared with the ACA. The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) is greatly honoured that two of its research fellows/ associates are in these independent oversight bodies.  Professor Dr Normah Omar is member of the Operation Review Panel and Professor Dr Syed Noh Syed Ahmad is member of Corruption Consultation Panel. 

ARI's Expertise and Keynote Speakers

Whilst the Asian Academic Accounting Association conference is going on in Bandung, other fellows of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) are also busy delivering keynote addresses elsewhere.   Professor Dr Nafsiah, who is an expert in public sector accounting was invited to give a talk at the Asia- America -Africa- Australia conference, also in Bandung Indonesia.with the theme "Evaluating and Improving Good Public Governance".  

The conference which was hosted by the Pasundan University, has attracted many researchers, postgraduate students and government officers from various universities and government agencies.  Back in Malaysia, ARI's two research fellows, Associate Professors Dr Roshayani and Dr Faizah are key trainers for treasury officers from public universities in Malaysia.  In view of the newly introduced Malaysian Private Entities Reporting Standard (MPERS), the duo have been tasked to provide awareness, through a three-day workshop to treasury officers from various public universities on this  new milestone for financial reporting of private entities in Malaysia.

Visiting Professor Paul Barnes

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) welcomes Professor Paul Barnes who is currently visiting Universiti Teknologi MARA for two weeks as a visiting professor. Professor Barnes has written a number of books and published many academic papers in a wide variety of journals in the UK, Australia and the USA, on various aspects of financial crime and related subjects. He has been an expert witness in many high profile financial crime trials in the UK, mainly involving securities fraud, stock market abuse and insider dealing. He has also provided forensic accounting expertise in a number of civil actions and investigations.  Professor Barnes is an expert in forensic accounting and has acted as an expert witness and consultant in the areas of finance and forensic accounting. He was previously Professor of Finance and Fraud Risk Management at Nottingham Business School in the UK and is, or has been, a Visiting Professor at various universities in the US and Australia. He is a qualified Chartered Certified Accountant (although not a practicing member) an academic member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and has degrees in history and management science, with a Ph.D. in economics.  Do you need an expert in financial crime? Or perhaps your business requires a consultant in forensic accounting?  Forensic Accounting is a specialist field of work which requires detailed knowledge and expertise. Researchers, staff and students are encouraged to meet up with Prof Barnes to discuss potential research in financial criminology and forensic accounting.

New Cohort of Master in Forensic Accounting & Financial Criminology Students

Congratulations to all students who have just completed their AFC738 course on Money Laundering and Specialized Frauds at the Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Besides topics on money laundering, this semester, the course has added other Specialized Frauds which cover offences such as bankruptcy fraud, matrimonial fraud, e-commerce fraud, corruption, identity fraud and insurance.  In implementing the students-centred and blended learning approaches, the continuous assessments have required the students to (i) prepare a video on their selected fraud investigation, and (ii) start a blog on their choice of fraud.  To add practitioners' input to the course, three speakers have been invited to give lectures.  SAC Mohd Noor Firdaus from the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) talked on the legislation Anti-Money Laundering, Anti Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Crime Act (AMLATFAPUA) 2001 and money laundering cases in Malaysia.  Tuan Kanakaraja A/L Muthusamy from the Anti Corruption Commission (SPRM) spoke on topics related to corruption, bribery and the Anti-Corruption Act.  Mr Mohd Rashid Azahari bin Tan Sri Musa spoke on various topics on specialised frauds such as identity fraud and bankruptcy fraud. 

ARI-AIM-Mydin Islamic Microfinance Rountable

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) thanks its collaborative partners, Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) and Mydin Holding for a recently held successful Roundtable session with Microfinance players.  Among the invited agency participants included ISRA', Bank Negara Malaysia, Bank Simpanan Nasional, TERAJU, MARA, INCEIF, Bank Islam, SME Corps, SME Bank, AgroBank, TEKUN and many others.  The main aims of the Roundtable session were to (i) For ARI to showcase its proposed Islamic Microfinance Model; (ii) Share research findings related to a microfinance pilot project in Tanjung Karang, hence highlights challenges and prospects related to the business model and (iii) Obtain feedback from the participants for the inclusion of shariah-based governance to ARI's existing framework.  Effectively, the Roundtable session was very successful.  In addition to Mydin Holding, a few more agency participants have in principle agreed to become future collaborative partners in this project.  Collaborative partners can participate either as Microfinance financiers, Suppliers or Marketers.  A Shariah-based contract has been proposed to be used to bind all business partners.  Islamic Microfinance represents one of ARI's research clusters which hopes to become an effective tool to alleviate poverty among the Ummah. Thank you all participants for your most precious feedback and input.

ARI Sharing Session at Brahim's Airline Catering Integrity Week

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) thanks Brahim's Airline Catering for inviting us to participate in its Integrity Week event on 19-21 March 2014. The event which will be held at its corporate office in Sepang will specifically discuss integrity policy related to gifts and entertainment.  As the company has recently signed the Corporate Integrity Pledge (CIP) with the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, Brahim's Airline Catering is also very keen to know more about ARI's work on Corporate Integrity System Malaysia (CISM) with the Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM).  CIP is a document that allows a company to make a commitment to uphold the anti-corruption principles in Malaysia. By signing the pledge, a company is making a unilateral declaration that it will not commit corrupt acts, will work toward creating a business environment that is free from corruption and will uphold the Anti-Corruption Principles for Corporations in Malaysia in the conduct of its business and in its interactions with its business partners and the Government. On the premise that corruption is the direct result of "lack of integrity" of individuals and/or organizations, CISM is an instrument developed to measure and assess integrity practices at workplaces.  Two Brahim's officers - Mr Hisham and Mr Mahat visited ARI's office to discuss possible programs to be offered during the integrity week event.  Three ARI researchers - Prof Normah, Associate Prof Dr Jamaliah and Associate Professor Dr Zuraidah have been invited as speakers at Brahim's Integrity Week on 19-21 March 2014.  

Training of Senior Government Officers

It was really an honour that the Association of Statutory Bodies (Persatuan Badan-Badan Berkanun), Malaysia has selected the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) to conduct statutory visits and training for its senior government officers as part of the association's Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program. After much discussion and deliberation, the visit cum training has been scheduled to take place in New Zealand during the period of 1st to 10th September 2013.  New Zealand has been chosen as the most appropriate destination for the group due to its high performance ranking in public sector administration globally.  In fact, New Zealand is the only country in the world that had reigned the top placing for the renowned Corruption Perception Index (CPI), sixteen times since its inception.  The 10-day program includes site visits/meetings with selected local authorities and top universities in New Zealand; participation in an international conference on Corporate Governance Management & Financial Criminology at University of Waikato and participants undertaking 13 interactive training modules.  Four ARI members - Associate Professor Dr Zuraidah Sanusi, Associate Professor Dr Jamaliah Said, Dr Nor Balkish Zakaria and Dr Ismarani have been entrusted by the Association to plan and coordinate the program.  For ARI and Universiti Teknologi MARA, the visit will include the signing of two Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) with the University of Waikato dan University of Victoria.

Enhancing Competency in Forensic Accounting

Researchers from the "Financial Criminology Research Cluster" of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) completed their three-day training on the use of "Lavastorm Analytics and Lavastorm Fraud Manager", a newly acquired software for ARI's forensic laboratory.  Three principal researchers and their respective team members attended the event.  This powerful software allows the integration of data for effective fraud investigation.  The need to enhance researchers' competency in using latest technology for financial fraud detection is extremely crucial as it allows them  to teach and train others.  In particular, the software will be useful for the Master in Forensic Accounting and Financial Criminology students.  The knowledge can also be used to train financial fraud investigators.

Training Workshop for Lavastorm Analytics

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) has recently purchased a software called Lavastorm Analytics  information system(LA).  Although LA is in itself represents an integrated data management system, ARI acquired the software to firstly manage its research data more effectively.  Secondly, LA is
specifically used to facilitate its researchers and clients to maximize their competency in data mining typically  for financial fraud detection purposes.  Essentially, LA is a new, agile way to analyze, optimize and control data and processes.  ARI organizes a three-day training workshop with the aim of learning more about the software and its potential use.  LA supplier sends its experts Michael and Aaron to facilitate the training workshop.   As in learning anything new, the learning curve  among participants was initially slow.  But later in the afternoon, participants were introduced with  tools that can be used to identify potential red flags in financial fraud data.  We learned the need to first and foremost to clean the data.  Very often, financial fraud investigators are challenged with voluminous data that must be sorted out before any investigation could take place.  Lavastorm is part of the facility and tool made available at the recently built Forensic Accounting and Polygraph Laboratory.

Congratulations Dr Sharifah Norzehan

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulates one of our research associates, Dr Sharifah Norzehan Syed Yusof for winning the  Yayasan Nurul Yaqeen's Best Thesis Award for her PhD thesis with the central theme of the 'Islamic World View'.  In the grand final competition, this lecturer, from the Faculty of Accountancy UiTM Shah Alam, beat six other participants from the local institutions of higher learning. She received RM15,000, a trophy and certificate.  The prize was presented by the Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of Yayasan Nurul Yaqeen, YAB Tan Sri Dato' Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin, on 4 July, at the Royale Bintang Damansara. Also present were the Deputy Prime Minister’s wife, YABhg Puan Sri Datin Norainee Abdul Rahman and YBhg Dato Dr Hj Ismail Hj Ibrahim.  Well done Dr Sharifah Norzehan Syed Yusof! (note: entry obtained from UiTM's website" 

ARI Johore Chapter

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) welcomes its new members from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Johore Campus.  In a half day meeting held at the Segamat campus today, ARI Director Prof Normah Omar and ARI Deputy Director (Post Graduate & Innovation) Associate Professor Dr Zuraidah Sanusi gave a research briefing related to ARI Phase 3 research projects.  Themed Islamic Financial Criminology, ARI is focusing on forging international research collaborations with  renowned research centres/universities globally.  ARI has identified seven research clusters  for its 2013/2014 program.  Twenty five researchers attended the research briefing.  During the meeting members have proposed several activities which included the organisation of an international conference and publication workshops.  Congratulations all...

Groom Big Seminar

The Groom Big Programme is an initiative by the Ministry of International Trade (MITI) to encourage, nurture and develop SME entrepreneurs to have a bold vision towards becoming a big entity, have the ability to compete and willing to progress while having the staying power at the domestic and global level. Its aim is to make SMEs think big so that they can be groomed into large entities.  In implementing the Groom Big program, MITI partners with various agencies.  One of the agencies, Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) has invited the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) to develop a training module on Financial Management for participants.  Today, a one-day Groom Big seminar was held by MPC.  During the seminar, ARI has been invited to present its findings on financial management practices of eight Groom Big companies - Ruff n Tuff, Brimal Stampress, PATCO, Innopeak, Mitti Cables, Matrix Power, Shamawar and PSB Decoration.  In addition to ARI presentation, all participating companies have also been asked to present at least one TQM or productivity initiatives. 

Money Laundering Case Presentations

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulates all students who have successfully attended the recent Financial Criminology and Money Laundering course at the Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA.  At the end of the five-week session, students presented their local case studies, submitted related written briefs of the cases and sat for an examination.  A total of fifteen local cases were presented.  What they did was to identify old and new cases.  Some perpetrators have been successfully charged while some cases have been "dropped" due to lack of substantial evidences.  The students have to "re-construct" the cases by identifying suitable fraud detection tools, propose relevant documents to look for, examine internal control mechanism of the case, carry out detail analysis of the evidences, identify relevant legislation under the Anti Money Laundering and Anti Terrorism Financing Act 2001 and carry out a complete investigation.  Students were encouraged to interview regulators, enforcement agencies, "witnesses" to get relevant facts of the cases. To facilitate them with the course, two guest speakers have been invited to the class.  The first speaker was an investigation officer from the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP), who has loads of experience investigating money laundering and other financial fraud cases.  The second speaker was an anti-money laundering specialist who has conducted a lot of special money laundering investigations for private companies in the country. Well done all....

Groom Big PSB Furniture

PSB Furniture Sdn Bhd is a Johor-based "Class A" contractor company, that has been specifically identified by the Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) and Ministry of International Trade (MITI) in the later's "Groom Big" program.  The Groom Big initiative nurtures potential small and medium enterprises for the export and global market.  The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) participated in the 2012 Groom Big program by providing three accounting-based training modules for the enterpreneurs.  Yesterday ARI researchers conducted site visit to PSB's Furniture Factory in Johor Bharu.  PSB's Director/Owner, Mr Awang and his team made a presentation of both financial and management accounting data of the company.  As accounting is the "language" of business, it can be used as a strategic tool to control and monitor manufacturing costs as well as to make strategic decisions on pricing and profitability.  As a Class A contractor company, PSB has invested in "state of the art" manufacturing facilities.  Naturally, the company is on its way to penetrate the international markets.  Mr Awang shared with the researchers, his plans and vision for the company.  Congratulations Mr Awang and PSB...

Accounting Course for Assessors

As part of our ongoing collaboration with the Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC), the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) conducted a one-day accounting program for assessors. Basically, the  two groups of assessors who attended the program comprised of: (i) MPC assessors who assess the Quality Management Excellence Award (QMEA) and (ii) PROTON assessors who assess Vendor Quality Award.  Basic Accounting Course for assessors is divided into three important parts.  The first part examines key ratios which include (i) Return on Equity, (ii)  Liquidity, (iii) Profitability, (iv) Asset Management and (v) Leverage.  The second part covers comparative analysis of the company's performance via Horizontal and Vertical Analyses.  Ration analysis on it own is meaningless unless it is benchmarked with the best in the industry or compared with previous years' performance.  The third part of the course reviews management accounting techniques that should be adopted by companies to assist management to either control costs or to make the most strategic decision.  In the afternoon, participants had to choose a company for them to evaluate.  Based on what they have learned, they need to assess the financial performance of the company.

2012 ICGA - Day Two

The second day of the 2nd International Conference on Corporate Governance and Accountability (2012 ICGA)proceeded with six parallell sessions in the mornings. After the lunch break, the conference continued with a forum titled "Getting Published in Academic Journals" Four panel members namely Professor Lee Parker (University of South Australia), Professor David Crowther (DeMonfort University, United Kingdom), Professor Klaus Tochterman (ZBW-German National Library of Economics) and Professor Normah Omar (Universiti Teknologi MARA)discussed publication strategies that could be adopted by researchers. Prof Parker, who is the chief editor of the renowned international journal, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ)explained about the do's and dont's when one submits a paper for publication. He further elaborated that the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal is dedicated to the advancement of accounting knowledge.
The journal provides a forum for the publication of high quality manuscripts concerning the interaction between accounting/auditing and their socio-economic and political environments. It therefore encourages critical analysis of policy and practice in these areas. Analysis could explore policy alternatives and provide new perspectives for the accounting discipline. Professor David Crowther introduced the Social Responsibility Research Network (SRRNet) that he had founded. The Network was formed in 2003 after the success of the first International Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility was held. Since then, SRRNet have continued to grow and there are currently around 600 members based all over the world. Prof Crowther further introduced the Social Responsibility Journal (SRJ)that his network helped to establish many years ago. Today, SRJ is published four times per year by the Emerald Publishing Group. Next, Professor Normah introduced three journals: Malaysian Accounting Review (MAR), Journal of Financial Reporting & Accounting (JFRA - the journal has been acquired by Emerald since June 2010) and the Asia Pacific Management Accounting Journal (APMAJ) that were founded by the Accounting Research Institutes a few years ago. Unlike AAAJ and SRJ, MAR, JFRA and APMAJ are relatively new and efforts are underway to promote the journals to greater height. . Researchers were therefore encouraged to submit their papers to these journals. They were also reminded to use a conference such as 2012 ICGA as a platform to obtain feedback for their papers prior to journal publication Finally, Professor Klause Tochtermann introduced his centre ZBW which runs the subject-based repository for archiving economics online collections. ZBW produces the publication service ECONSTOR and the subject portal EconBiz. His centre hosts the Open Access Journal, which includes a two-stage peer-review process. He further stressed that these efforts contribute towards global visibility of research. Later in the afternoon, Professor Crowther presented the conference's third key note address with the title "Governance, Sustainability and Crisis Management". Prior to the closing ceremony by Professor Normah Omar, she presented awards to the best overall papers and best presenters. The passing of the baton to the Turkish team who will be hosting the 3rd ICGA cenference in 2014 marked the ending of the 2012 conference.