IMA’s latest ethics offering, “Misplaced Trust I Devastating Fraud,” is now available as a facilitator-led workshop, useful for organizations and IMA^® (Institute of Management Accountants) chapters wishing to conduct onsite ethics training for staff or other professionals. The course is also available for individual study as well.

“Misplaced Trust I Devastating Fraud” tells the story of Patricia Lambert, the assistant superintendent of a Texas school district who had anything but the wellbeing of her students on her mind. Between 2007 and 2013, Lambert stole thousands of dollars by pocketing student funds and granting illicit vendor contracts.

The course uses this real-life case study to examine how internal control failures can shake up not only the corporate world but the nonprofit sphere as well. Using the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) internal control framework as a reference, the course explores how management accountants can contribute to ensuring strong internal controls, fraud prevention, and an ethical climate that encourages excellent overall corporate governance.

The facilitator-led course offers 2 NASBA CPE credits and draws from a case published in the IMA Educational Case Journal, titled, “Lack of Internal Controls: Beaumont Independent School District.” More information, including pricing details, can be found on the IMA website.

IMA also offers two other facilitator-led workshop titles:

• “The Slippery Slope of Greed,” based on Le-Nature’s, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based beverage company founded by CEO Gregory Podlucky, who oversaw a large-scale financial fraud based on bogus sales revenues.
• “Blinded by Pressure,” based on a real-life case study on Diamond Foods, a cautionary tale of using improper departures from GAAP reporting as a means to improve reported results.

Menconi Competition Winner
Members seeking the latest ethics resources can also look for the winning entry in the Carl Menconi Case Writing Competition, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Strategic Finance magazine. This year’s winning entry was “To Break Boats or Not to Break Boats” by Paul R. Goodchild, Ph.D., CPA, assistant professor, University of Central Missouri. Dr. Goodchild won a $500 cash prize and will be recognized at the IMA Annual Conference & Expo in Indianapolis in June 2018.

For more information on IMA’s ethics resources, please visit the Ethics Center on the IMA website.