Fraud and Forensic Accounting, Certificate

The Fraud and Forensic Accounting Certificate program will not be admitting new students for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Program Description

The certificate prepares students for a career in the field of forensic accounting by providing them with skills and tools to both prevent fraud from occurring and discovering fraud after it has occurred.

Mission

The certificate in Fraud and Forensic Accounting, consistent with the mission of Graduate Studies, prepares students to enter the field of forensic accounting.

Program Goals

The program has the following goals:

Prepare students to participate ethically and professionally in a global market.
Prepare students to enter the field of forensic accounting.

Program Specific Information

This certificate may be applied to the M.S. Economic Crime Forensics program.

The Fraud and Forensic Accounting Certificate program will not be admitting new students for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Degree or Certificate Earned

Certificate

Required for Program Completion

Courses
- 5
Credits
- 15
GPA
- 3.0

The Fraud and Forensic Accounting Certificate program will not be admitting new students for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Student Learning Outcomes

The student learning outcomes for the certificate are:

Evaluate and support accounting and auditing concepts related to the causation of corporate economic crime.
Devise plans and processes to prevent and deter economic crime.

The Fraud and Forensic Accounting Certificate program will not be admitting new students for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Academic Requirements

A foundation course may be required based on the student’s background.

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
ECF 610	Criminal Justice and Legal Concepts	3
FACC 702	Financial Statement Fraud	3
FACC 703	Occupational Fraud and Abuse	3
FACC 704	The Computer and Internet Fraud	3
FACC 705	Fraud Detection and Prevention: Special Cases	3
Total Credits		15

The Fraud and Forensic Accounting Certificate program will not be admitting new students for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Course Sequence

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
ECF 610	Criminal Justice and Legal Concepts	3
FACC 702	Financial Statement Fraud	3
FACC 703	Occupational Fraud and Abuse	3
FACC 704	The Computer and Internet Fraud	3
FACC 705	Fraud Detection and Prevention: Special Cases	3
Total Credits		15

Course Descriptions

Economic Crime Forensics

ECF 610 Criminal Justice and Legal Concepts

The course provides an overview of the legal systems and expertise required for fraud risk professionals. The course enables participants to deepen their knowledge of the U.S. legal system by acquiring a broader understanding of processes and procedures that focus on fraud investigation, prosecution, and civil remedies. The course covers knowledge of law enforcement agencies, federal rules and regulations and evidence management, and expert testimony.

Number of Credits: 3

Fraud and Forensic Accounting

FACC 702 Financial Statement Fraud

Financial statement fraud involves intentional misstatements or omissions of financial statement amounts or disclosures to deceive users of the statements. This topic, commonly known as "cooking the books," will introduce students to management's motives and pressures to achieve desired financial results as opposed to true economic financial results. This course will enable students to both understand and detect the creative accounting methods management employs to "cook the books," along with related fraud prevention strategies.

Number of Credits: 3

FACC 703 Occupational Fraud and Abuse

Occupational fraud and abuse is described as the use of one's occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of one's employing organization's resources or assets. Through the use of real-life case examples, this course will focus on the types of persons most likely to perpetrate occupational fraud, the conditions under which fraud might be committed, and the specific schemes used to defraud organizations of amounts ranging from hundreds to millions of dollars.

Number of Credits: 3

FACC 704 The Computer and Internet Fraud

Computers have made organizations easier to run. All accounting information, inventory records, customer data, and intellectual property that an organization possesses is contained somewhere in an electronic file. As such, these electronic files are vulnerable to attacks from both employees and outsiders from around the world. This course will provide the student with an understanding of how computer fraud and manipulation is accomplished and what security measures should be instituted to prevent it.

Number of Credits: 3

FACC 705 Fraud Detection and Prevention: Special Cases

The opportunity to commit and conceal fraud exists only when there are assets susceptible to misappropriation and a lack of internal controls to prevent or detect fraud. This course will focus on the high-risk fraud environments wherein assets are more vulnerable to misappropriation and fraud because of either a lack of, or non-functioning of, internal controls. The study of various fraud investigative methods and the process for communicating an expert report will be an essential part of this course.

Number of Credits: 3

Faculty

Lecturer: McCoey, Monaghan, Walters, Zikmund

Program Contact Information

M.S. Economic Crime Forensics
Holroyd Hall, Suite 123
ecf@lasalle.edu
(215) 951-1222

Staff Contact Information

Yang Wang, Ph.D.
Program Director
Holroyd Hall, Suite 123
(215) 951-1222

2025-2026 Edition

Academic Catalog

Catalog Quick Links

Program Description

Mission

Program Goals

Program Specific Information

Degree or Certificate Earned

Required for Program Completion

Student Learning Outcomes

Academic Requirements

Course Sequence

Course Descriptions

Economic Crime Forensics

Fraud and Forensic Accounting

Faculty

Program Contact Information

Staff Contact Information

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