13 Complete New Purdue Northwest Forensic Accounting Certificate Program

Purdue-Northwest-colorThirteen individuals have completed the first offering of Purdue University Northwest’s new Forensic Accounting Certificate Program.

Completing the professional certificate program were: Rachel Acevedo and Anamaria Mitrovic of Schererville; Thomas Allen, Kimberly Cloud and Douglas Flournoy of Gary; Jennifer Gabrysiak and Brian Lambka of Valparaiso; Brenda Gonzalez of Oak Lawn, Ill.; Mousab Halabia and Theresa Lawson-Enane of Hammond; Rosalinda Hernandez of Munster; Nicholas Labas of Lowell; and Zusana Timkova of Whiting.

Addressing white collar crime The program is designed to provide accounting, business and law enforcement professionals the knowledge, tools and experience necessary to discover underlying discrepancies of white collar crime. Participants are instructed to understand how and why occupational fraud is occurring, how it can be deterred or prevented, and how fraud allegation should be professionally investigated and resolved.

“Our program is the only one in the area that offers instruction in forensic software programs, specifically, EnCase, IDEA and Tableau,” PNW Associate Professor of Accounting and program coordinator Maureen Mascha said. “We provide program participants with skills needed in analyzing electronic data, such as email, voice mail and text messages, as well as skills for restoring deleted electronic data.”

4 courses Four graduate level courses comprise the program: Introduction to Forensic Investigation, Data Analysis, Criminology & Legal Issues and Advanced Fraud Investigation.

Purdue University Northwest Purdue University Northwest (PNW), part of the Purdue University system, is a comprehensive regional university comprised of two Northwest Indiana campuses. PNW was established in early 2016 with the unification of the former Purdue University North Central at Westville and Purdue University Calumet at Hammond. With more than 15,000 students and nearly 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, Purdue Northwest is Indiana’s fifth largest public university. For more information about PNW, visit www.pnw.edu.