Fool Me Once

A riveting look at the perpetrators, victims, and whistleblowers behind financial crimes from acclaimed professor and documentarian Kelly Richmond Pope.

Have you ever wondered why Bernie Madoff thought he could brazenly steal his clients' money? Or why investors were so easily duped by Elizabeth Holmes? Or how courageous people like Jeffrey Wigand are willing to become whistleblowers and put their careers on the line?

Fraud is everywhere-from Nigerian "princes," embezzlers, and Ponzi schemers to corporate giants like Enron and Volkswagen. And fraud is costly. Each year, consumers, small businesses, governments, and corporations lose trillions of dollars.

We've become so accustomed to hearing about fraud, we accept it as part of the world we live in today-so much so, that our abilities to identify it and speak about it are limited.

No more. In Fool Me Once, renowned expert Kelly Richmond Pope shows fraud in action, uncovering what makes perps tick, victims so gullible, and whistleblowers so morally righteous, while also encouraging us to look at our own behaviors and motivations in the hopes of protecting ourselves and our companies.

By the time you finish this book, you'll have a better understanding of-and perhaps more compassion for-perpetrators; a renewed connection to victims; and an appreciation for those who blow the whistle.

Filled with fascinating stories and insightful analysis, Fool Me Once will open your eyes and challenge your thinking. It will inspire you to question your own preconceived notions and commonly held beliefs about people while providing an insider's view of a phenomenon that most of us fail to understand until it's too late.

Autorentext

Kelly Richmond Pope is the Dr. Barry Jay Epstein Endowed Professor of Forensic Accounting at DePaul University, in Chicago. Pope's research on executive misconduct culminated in directing and producing the award-winning documentary All the Queen's Horses, which explores the largest municipal fraud in US history. Pope also serves as a research fellow for the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), where she leads research in corporate governance, ethics, and management accounting education. In 2020, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the CPA Practice Advisor named Pope among the top 25 most powerful women in accounting.

Connect with Kelly Richmond Pope at kellyrichmondpope.com.

Klappentext

An inside look at why fraud occurs and how to prevent it.

• Inside stories from the author's own research and personal interactions with financial criminals and their victims.
• Clear-eyed and counterintuitive analysis of how fraud happens?and how to identify it and avoid it.
• Psychological insights into human behavior?what motivates perps, why victims are dupable, and why some people are willing to put everything on the line to speak up.
• Conversational, story-driven writing that makes for a fast and fascinating read.

Audience:

• General business readers who read books about human behavior?people who read Dan Ariely's books and Jon Ronson's The Psychopath test.
• Managers, employees, and small-business owners who touch and deal with financial transactions.
• Accountants and finance professionals who want to experience the "human-side" of fraud.