Decosimo Director of Forensic Services Bill Acuff, CPA, CFF, CFE will present, "Fraud in Family Businesses: Increased Risks" at the Family Business Institute of East Tennessee's Family Business Breakfast Forum on Wednesday, Sept. 15, from 7:15 to 9 a.m. in Knoxville.

Hosted at Calhoun's On The River, the forum will focus on the fraud risks that family businesses face.

"Trust is a key business ingredient, especially in family owned operations," said Mr. Acuff. "The close-knit atmosphere of family businesses often leads to placement of more trust in an employee, even for individuals who are not family members, than would be found in other types of companies. Yet, unfortunately, trust is the main element in fraud."

According to Mr. Acuff, with the current, troubled economy, fraud risk is heightened everywhere. Combine this with the increased trust found in family businesses and a perfect storm is spawned. "Unfortunately, just because an employee may also be a family member does not mean the entity will be better insulated from fraud," Mr. Acuff added. "Steps must be taken to help prevent deceptive activity."

Research indicates businesses will recover less than 25 percent of the proceeds lost to fraud and will incur significant costs in the process. Therefore, fraud prevention is much easier and more cost effective than investigating fraud and attempting to recover losses.

To register for the fee forum, contact Family Business Institute Executive Director Ed Seaver at ed@familybusinessinstitute.org with the names of those who will be attending. The RSVP deadline is Monday, Sept. 13.

Mr. Acuff has more than 25 years of experience in public accounting, conducting fraud investigations and providing litigation support to attorneys. Besides being a certified public accountant, he has also earned the certified fraud examiner (CFE) and certified in financial forensics (CFF) credentials. In addition to investigating fraud, he and his team of forensic accountants provide proactive fraud risk assessments, evaluate internal controls and help design and implement comprehensive anti-fraud programs, including the use of computer-aided detection tools and techniques.

Mr. Acuff is a graduate of Tennessee Technological University with post baccalaureate work at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is a member of the ACFE, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA), Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants (GSCPA), International Accounts Payable Professionals (IAPP) and Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA).

He serves as president of the Chattanooga Area Chapter of the ACFE and is a member of the Business Valuation, Forensic Investigations and Litigation Services Committee of the TSCPA. He is a frequent speaker and presenter on forensic services, fraud investigations, fraud prevention and fraud detection.