As incidence of corporate fraud increased in the wake of the global financial crisis, so has the demand for forensic accountants to investigate and manage business risks. An article published in the Business Review Weekly discusses this very topic. The article is reproduced below. 

Required

Read the article, review the sections in the chapter dealing with forensic accounting, and discuss the following questions in a group.

(a) Why has the demand for forensic accountants been increasing over the past decade?

(b) In forensic accounting, what are some of the emerging areas of forensic investigation?

(c) The article outlines some of the forensic accounting work against high-tech corporate crimes. Briefly describe some of these forensic investigations.

(d) Consider the various fields of accounting work such as management accounting, auditing and tax. In light of the growing demand for forensic accountants, would you consider taking on this speciality strand of accounting work?

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Forensic accountants are in demand, investigating more fraud as unscrupu- lous staff react to an uncertain econ- omic future. Just 10 years ago, forensic accounting was virtually non-existent in Australia. It is now an important part of most firms. The economy may be weak but demand for forensic accountants has never been stronger, forcing practices to recruit from overseas and other industries to fill the skills shortage. Forensic accountants anticipate an increase in the number of corporate fraud cases under investigation, as Trail of guilt employees facing an uncertain economic future take advantage of lax controls to steal. Also, a deluge of expected cor- porate insolvency work will flood the for- ensic market as corporate collapses are investigated by regulators and creditors. Deloitte's forensic team has grown by 58 per cent annually during the past decade, the Asia-Pacific lead partner of the division, Tim Phillipps, says, and the company is looking for more recruits. Phillipps says he has noticed a change in the nature of new cases in the past six months, 'A lot of the consulting- style work we were getting, helping companies with their risk-management programs... has turned around to, "Oh my gosh, my CEO has been stealing from us" or "Oh my gosh, my CFO has been stealing from us". 'As the profits are dropping away quite quickly, a lot of the bodies are floating to the surface. It's starting to reveal what's really going on.' The partner in charge of McGrath- Nicol Forensic, Jon Rowell, who has been in the field for 14 years, says he has never seen it so busy. And he expects the sector to be busy for at least the next three to four years.