The Use of Convicted Fraudsters for Training

From its inception, the ACFE has utilized convicted fraudsters for training and education purposes because we believe that there is no better way to learn about fraud than from a person willing to describe how and why their crime(s) occurred. Local chapters are encouraged to have them as speakers, too.  However, their use must be carefully controlled and monitored.  Many of them, for example, would like for others to believe that because of their experiences, this makes them experts in the prevention and detection of other kinds of fraud. This is not the case and CPE credit cannot be awarded for any part of their presentation(s) for this purpose.   Accordingly, the ACFE Board of Regents announced the following rule in 2012 regarding the use of convicted fraudsters for CPE credit:

ACFE shall not award Participant, College Course, In-House Training, Instructor, or Meeting CPE Credit for any portion of a program in which the instructor, speaker, or presenter is a person who has been, within the past ten (10) years, convicted of a fraud-related felony or a fraud-related crime involving moral turpitude (as that term is defined by the ACFE Membership Bylaws). An exception will be granted (and CPE credit allowed) for any portions of a program that are specifically and exclusively devoted to the convicted person describing or explaining his or her crime. The President of ACFE, Inc. shall have the authority to determine whether CPE credit will be granted or disallowed according to this rule on a case by case basis.

For approval of use of a convicted fraudster at your chapter’s training event, or if you have questions about this rule,  please email Joey Broccolo.