Forensic accountant explains why fraud thrives on Wall Street

Forensic accountant Kelly Richmond Pope explains how fraud runs rampant – even when businesses don’t intend it. "Accounting is like a superpower," says Kelly Richmond Pope. As a forensic accounting expert, Pope understands how this power comes with significant responsibilities and potential pitfalls. The pressure from market expectations can sometimes drive companies to inflate their financial performance, creating a precarious ethical landscape for the accounts overseeing the company’s financial activity. Pope highlights a key problem area: the mismatch between the money a company actually has (cash) and the money it records as earned (revenue). In the wrong hands, this system can be exploited, leading to serious legal consequences. She emphasizes that accountants often face hard choices and must stand firm in their ethics to ensure transparency and fairness in business. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Kelly Richmond Pope: Dr. Kelly Richmond Pope is the Dr. Barry Jay Epstein Endowed Professor of Accounting at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. Pope is a nationally recognized expert in risk, forensic accounting, and white-collar crime research, and an award-winning educator, researcher, author, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. She’s the author of Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories, and Secrets from the Trillion Dollar Fraud Industry (Harvard Business Review Press, March 2023). Pope teaches managerial and forensic accounting both at the undergraduate and graduate level.

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