From Big Think.
“Fraud never sleeps. It’s really a global problem. Fraud is a trillion dollar problem, about $5 trillion today, with that number increasingly rising annually.”
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What if the smartest person in the room isn’t the CEO—but the one who understands the books? Accounting expert Kelly Richmond Pope illuminates how accounting shapes the way we see power, trust, and truth, and how it’s often used to hide some of the biggest corporate lies in plain sight.
Most people think accountants just crunch numbers, but as Pope reveals, they decode intent.
00:00:00 Why did you choose to pursue a career in accounting?
00:01:08 What characterizes the typical accountant personality type?
00:01:50 What are some common misconceptions about accounting?
00:06:14 What is the Accounting Equation?
00:10:02 What are the four components of financial statements?
00:10:52 What is an auditor responsible for?
00:25:02 What would a world without accountants look like?
00:25:19 Is the accountant shortage a surprise or was it expected?
00:28:06 How can we fix the accountant shortage?
00:30:28 How would you recruit Gen Z into accounting?
00:39:30 What are some red flags that can occur within conversation?
00:41:42 What inspired you to write your book?
00:42:41 How rampant is fraud across the U.S. and the world?
00:43:33 What is the Fraud Triangle?
00:44:40 Why is fraud thought to be a victimless crime?
00:46:38 How do people rationalize financial fraud?
00:48:09 Are there different types of perpetrators?
00:48:58 What is an “intentional perpetrator”?
00:56:14 What is a “righteous perpetrator”?
01:04:56 What is an “accidental perpetrator”?
01:05:23 How can we avoid becoming an “accidental perpetrator”?
01:14:00 What are some examples of potential targets, or “prey”?
01:17:18 What are the different types of whistleblowers?
01:24:17 What occurred during the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal?
01:23:59 What mindset should we adopt when encountering fraud?
01:29:58 How can we be more ethical?
Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/kelly-richmond-pope-fraud/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description
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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.
