Behind the Numbers: How Trust Becomes Theft 

Course Description:

This course examines occupational fraud through the lens of five real, recent cases — Christin Guillory, Rita Crundwell, Barbara Chalmers, Tina Feuerstein, and Sonya Hesenius — each involving a trusted employee who exploited their position to divert millions of dollars from their employer. Participants will review the Fraud Triangle and Fraud Diamond frameworks and apply them to identify the pressures, rationalizations, opportunities, and personal capabilities that enabled each scheme, along with the specific control failures that allowed the fraud to continue undetected for years. The course also offers practical takeaways for strengthening internal controls, segregation of duties, and fraud-detection practices in your own organization. Upon completion, participants will be able to identify common red flags of occupational fraud, apply the Fraud Triangle/Fraud Diamond framework to real-world scenarios, and recommend control improvements to reduce fraud risk.

Learning Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Identify the three components of the Fraud Triangle (pressure, opportunity, rationalization) and the fourth component added by the Fraud Diamond (capability)
• Apply the Fraud Triangle and Fraud Diamond frameworks to analyze real-world occupational fraud cases and identify which elements were present in each
• Recognize common red flags associated with occupational fraud and asset misappropriation
• Identify internal control weaknesses that commonly enable long-running fraud schemes
• Evaluate the case study fraud schemes and evaluate what earlier detection controls might have shortened its duration
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