Why Auditors Fail To Detect Fraud

Dennis Dycus

Dennis F. Dycus, CPA, CFE, CGFM, presently serves as the Director of the Division of Municipal Audit for the Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury, State of Tennessee. The Division is responsible for the annual audit of all municipalities, utility districts, school activity and cafeteria funds, housing authorities, certain not-for-profit organizations and other quasi-governmental entities in the State of Tennessee. In addition, the Division’s staff conducts numerous audits for fraud, waste and abuse each year. From the beginning of his career with a national accounting firm, through the last 31 years of involvement with the audits of all forms of governmental entities, he brings a wealth of practical experience to his presentations. A graduate of Western Kentucky University, Mr. Dycus is a frequent guest speaker/lecturer for various college business/accounting classes, professional associations, local, state and national conferences and not-for-profit organizations. In 1996, the Eta Omicron Chapter of Bet Alpha Psi presented him with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in recognition of his support of the WKU Accounting Department where he presently serves as a member of the Accounting Advisory Council for the Gordon Ford College of Business. In addition, he was recently appointed to the Accounting Advisory Board at Middle Tennessee State University. A 1986 graduate of the Tennessee Government Executive Institute, Mr. Dycus is an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants where he previously served on the Members in Government Committee, the Ad Hoc CPE Curriculum Task Force on Government and the National CPE Curriculum Subcommittee. He is also a member of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Association of Government Accountants, where he previously served as chapter president; the Government Finance Officers Association, and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, where he also served as chapter president and is a former member of Association’s Board of Regents as well as a member of their instructor faculty on a national basis. For the last several years, Mr. Dycus has developed and/or conducted training programs in all fifty states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Canada, for organizations such as the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners; the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; numerous state societies of certified public accountants; the Government Finance Officers Association; the Association of Government Accountants; the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers; Westcott Communications, Inc.; IBM; HCA; Saturn, Inc., the US Department of Labor; the General Accounting Office; the Internal Revenue Service; Bisk Education, Inc.; Nichols Education, Inc.; numerous state audit organizations, as well as individual professional firms. He is a frequent speaker at various professional conferences, both on a local and national level. In 1989 and again in 1997, he was the recipient of the AGA’s, National Education and Training Award and was presented with an Outstanding Discussion Leader Award by the Florida Society of CPAs. In 1998 he was honored with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner’s, Distinguished Achievement Award for his meritorious service in the detection and deterrence of fraud and in 2001 was one of only three individuals to ever receive the designation as a Fellow of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in recognition for his contribution to expanding the Association’s body of knowledge toward the detection of fraud. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Tennessee Society of CPA’s first ever, Outstanding CPA in Government Award. In addition, he has authored articles on auditing for fraud for national publications.