Employee Fraud: The Misappropriation of Assets

This online course provides a comprehensive and practical exploration of employee fraud, with a focus on how individuals misappropriate organizational assets through concealment, document manipulation, and internal‑control failures. As one of the most common and costly forms of occupational fraud, employee theft impacts cash, inventory, fixed assets, data, and more—resulting in billions of dollars in losses each year. Understanding the schemes, red flags, and internal‑control weaknesses that enable fraud is essential for prevention and early detection.

In this course, participants will review real‑world fraud cases, including unusual theft incidents such as high‑value misappropriations at Harvard, to illustrate how quickly fraud can escalate when controls are ineffective. The course examines embezzlement methods, concealment tactics, red‑flag indicators, reporting expectations, and post‑fraud responses. Updated for 2026, this program includes emerging fraud trends and newly documented schemes, giving professionals a current and actionable understanding of how employee fraud evolves.

Updated for 2026 with new fraud examples

Who Should Attend
CPAs, CFEs, CFFs, CIAs, CMAs, MAFFs, CGMAs, internal auditors, external auditors, managers, business owners and others in the accounting field. This course is ideal for professionals responsible for safeguarding organizational assets, detecting fraud, or overseeing financial integrity.

Topics Covered

• Fraud fundamentals and common misappropriation schemes
• Employee fraud case studies and emerging trends (updated for 2026)
• Red flags and behavioral indicators of internal theft
• Internal controls to prevent and detect asset misappropriation
• Fraud reporting processes and whistleblower considerations
• Post‑fraud reactions, remediation, and strengthening oversight

Learning Objectives

• Updated for 2026 with new fraud examples
• Recognize common fraud schemes and concealment tactics used to bypass internal controls
• Design internal controls that help prevent and detect employee theft and embezzlement
• Identify the year the Treadway Commission Report was released and its relevance to internal controls
• Estimate the annual cost of employee theft to businesses and understand its organizational impact
• Identify the unusual item misappropriated from Harvard and its significance when assessing control weaknesses
• Identify where most fraud tips originate and how tip‑driven reporting supports fraud detection

Level
Basic

Instructional Method
Group: Internet-based

NASBA Field of Study
Accounting (3 hours)

Program Prerequisites
None

Advance Preparation
None