Less than six months into his first full-time gig, Green began to sift through the company’s books for any glaring financial discrepancies.
The company in question started with two people—the owner and his secretary—and quickly expanded to 50 employees with a net worth of $50 million.
The secretary, who handled the books, was the first person to arrive in the morning and the last to leave. The numbers from her personal ledger, however, did not match up with the ledger submitted on behalf of the company.
After further investigation, Green discovered the woman had stolen $20 million in cash from the company over three years.
“It’s a rarity when a CPA actually uncovers a fraud in practice,” he said. “We probably would have found more, but the owner, who felt bad for his employee, asked us to stop. It was very exciting and that’s sort of what got me involved in fraud protection.”
Thirty years later, the University of Michigan-Dearborn accounting professor still fields his share of requests from companies who fall victim to fraud. But Green’s focus now revolves around fraud protection research.
“I’m looking at procedures that companies can implement to stop these scams from happening in the first place,” Green said.
Green’s research, which also focuses on fraud detection, helped him earn the College of Business’ (COB) 2014 Distinguished Performance in Research Award.
“Fraud remains an issue that millions of individuals and companies struggle with on a daily basis,” said COB Dean Raju Balakrishnan. “Brian Green has long been at the forefront of important research involving fraud detection and prevention. Brian’s efforts have had a tremendous impact on reducing the number of individuals and companies who have fallen victim to fraud.”
The brunt of his research over the past year has focused on cloud computing and the risks involved with data security. A number of celebrities have graced the headlines in recent months after hackers leaked risqué photos snatched from the cloud.
“It made for good press, but that’s not the problem,” Green said. “It’s not about the pictures—it’s about the money. Once you put anything up in the cloud or on the Internet, you might as well assume it’s public. In some instances, that means bank accounts, credit cards and passwords. My fear is that some of these people are going to wake up with empty bank accounts.”
Green’s research has had a profound impact on his personal life, as he takes precautions to ensure he doesn’t become another statistic.
“I have one credit card,” he said. “I do not have a Facebook account. I don’t tweet. I don’t have any information in the cloud. I back up all of my information on a terabyte hard drive. If you Google me, all you will find is a ton of research papers.”
