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Enron … Identify Theft … Martha Stewart … WorldCom … New names and faces that remind us that greed and corruption are always with us. Although economic crime has existed throughout history, today’s electronic world creates new risks.
Increasingly sophisticated technology has allowed economic and computer crime to flourish. While traditional so-called “street crime” has been decreasing in the United States since 1993, fraud and other so-called “white-collar” crimes have increased dramatically during that same time period, both within the United States and globally. The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that white-collar crime currently costs the United States about $300 billion annually. Many private estimates are even higher. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) places the number at $600 billion, which is about 6% of total revenues.
Law enforcement and other investigative agencies have been poorly prepared and ill-equipped to cope effectively with these contemporary types of crime. Corporate and government employers are calling for qualified professionals with accounting, computer, and investigative skills to deal with complex economic crimes that exist in the contemporary workplace. College graduates with this type of specialized education and training are in demand to effectively deal with sophisticated white-collar and financial crime made possible by our technological age.
In response to the current need nationally for trained professionals with accounting, computer, and investigative skills to probe “white-collar” crimes, Roberts Wesleyan College has created a program in Economic Crime Investigation (ECI). ECI is an interdisciplinary major that blends courses from Criminal Justice, Accounting, and Computer Science. Students are given a firm foundation in the procedures of criminal investigation and preparation of evidence for the justice system in the Criminal Justice courses required. In addition, students learn accounting, auditing, and an understanding of the computer systems that are used in today’s businesses.
In addition, each student majoring in ECI will select either an accounting or computer science option. Students taking the accounting option will take additional courses that will help them pursue becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Students selecting the computer science option will take additional studies that will prepare them for either the technical side of law enforcement or working on the prevention of crime through computer security.
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