We will keep you posted on the time/date that it will air!

 http://www.wsbtv.com/video/23919957/index.html

Laurie and George will also be attending the National Conference for the Certified Fraud Examiners which is being held in Washington, DC at the end of July. It will attract 5000 or more participants and will feature top notch presenters who speak on a variety of subjects related to fraud prevention, detection and quantification.

Laurie and Michele are on the GSCPA task force responsible for organizing the GSCPA Fraud and Forensic Accounting Conference. The conference will be held at the Cobb Galleria in September 2010. As part of the task force, Laurie and Michele are teaming up with Paul Seretti from the IRS Criminal Division and Bob Dow from Arnall Golden & Gregory, David Sawyer, and other CFE’s and CPA’s to organize the day’s speakers and presentations. The group has compiled an exciting tentative program of speakers and sessions for the conference. The only problem — how to fit it all in a day! Check the GSCPA website (www.gscpa.org) this summer and fall for more details and registration.

“[On April 28th, 2010], three volunteers from the Pickens County legal community (Attorneys John Capo and Scott Poole and Magistrate Judge Allen Wigington) participated in a mock fraud trial at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Georgia. The 3-hour mock trial was the culmination of a multi-part term project for the senior-level class in Fraud Examination.  Under the guidance of their professor, Bill Beecken, a certified fraud examiner, two teams of students analyzed a complex $1.3 million fraud case; proposed and / or conducted witness interviews; prepared an examination report, schedules, and courtroom ready audio-visuals; and prepared for testimony as an expert witness with three members of the Georgia Society of CPAs, Fraud Group (Michele Bruce, Laurie Dyke, and Jim Hart) as well as with defense attorney John Capo and prosecutor Scott Poole.  To get ready for the project, Lew Brendle, a retired supervisory special agent, taught the students how to interview and interrogate witnesses.  At the trial one student from each team played an expert witness and another functioned as the attorney’s litigation support person queuing up audio-visuals.  The remaining students provided their attorneys with real-time analysis of the testimony of the opposing expert witness.  The students greatly benefited from the sacrifice of these volunteers – two have applied to become federal special agents, another two have applied to work as investigations specialists with the FDIC, and another two decided to pursue a masters degree in accounting and work as forensic accountants. We give thanks to all of the volunteers that made this mock trial such a success.”

John Capo with SPSU student witness

SPSU Prosecution Witness (center) & Pickens County Magistrate Judge Alan Wigington (right)

Camp Children’s is a program designed to allow corporate volunteers the opportunity to host a themed activity/craft for patients in the hospital. GAWL volunteers organized arts and crafts around the theme “Spring Fling.” In the kitchen area, the camp’s children made edible gardens from Oreos, chocolate pudding, gummy snacks and pixie sticks. At tables on each side of The Zone, volunteers and parents helped children personalize flower pots using paint and stickers.

“The Zone is a reprieve for these kids and their parents. Some nights, the Childrens’ Health Care of Atlanta organizes events for kids and a special dinner sectioned off for the parents in view of the kids. A little time off from the pressures of medical care does wonders. The Zone is a great experience for volunteers as well. It doesn’t take long before the volunteer is as involved as the child in the activity. The volunteer forgets she is an adult, and the child has a chance to forget the hospital rooms, doctors, nurses and IVs.” – Michele Bruce