FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK... Carol Henderson

NCSTL staff continues to be very busy with lots of interesting projects. My column is a synopsis of what we have accomplished during the second quarter of this year and highlights some of what is new. This issue of It's Evident features articles related to “Forensic Accounting and Ponzi Schemes: An American Challenge”.

• http://www.ncstl.org’s “one-stop-shop” database currently holds almost 103,000 records, and over 4,000 of those are multimedia records. NCSTL continues to develop and consolidate forensic-based information including the addition of webcasts, podcasts, vodcasts, blog links, and training materials which focus on science, technology and law topics;
  
  
• NCSTL receives regular media coverage. In May, 2010, a researcher and writer from the Emmy award-winning medical TV show, HOUSE M.D., contacted NCSTL Research Attorney, Kevin Paget, to inquire about ghosting, a form of identity theft in which the perpetrator steals the identity of the dead. Paget had authored the article, Ghosting … grave robbery for the 21st century for the April, 2008 issue of It's Evident and HOUSE M.D. wanted some information on the topic. In June, 2010, Anjali Swienton, Director of Outreach, was interviewed by the Roanoke Times on forensic evidence and how it links a Harrington homicide with a 2005 Fairfax, VA abduction case. The interview was published on July 2, 2010.
  
  
• To inform NCSTL's constituency, which includes law enforcement, legal professionals, scientists, engineers, educators, and technologists, NCSTL representatives make presentations and offer training on a multitude of topics. On March 8-9, 2010, Anjali Swienton, Director of Outreach, made a presentation on "Forensic DNA" at CAILAW (The Center for American and International Law) in Plano, TX to 200 scientists and law enforcement and legal professionals. On April 7, I made a presentation on "The CSI Effect in Jury Trials" at the University of Florida's Caleb and Michele Grimes Conference on Liberal Arts and Public Affairs for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Gainesville, FL. NCSTL had two poster presentation exhibits; one at American University Washington College of Law on May 12, 2010. The other poster focused on NCSTL's work and was presented by Susan Zucker, Director of Technology & Distance Education, at the NIJ Grantee Poster Session on June 15, 2010 in Washington, DC.
  
  
• NCSTL is pleased to announce its newest partnership with the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa, FL. Currently, MOSI is featuring the exhibit, CSI: The Experience, and NCSTL will be well represented there.

The next issue of It's Evident will be published in October, 2010. The theme will be "Forensics After the NAS Report".

Wishing you all the best,
Carol

RESEARCH UPDATE
Unmasking the Fraud of Ponzi Schemes: Forensic Accounting and the Law Unite
Erica Pless, NCSTL Law & Science Fellow

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") define a ponzi scheme as "an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors." This type of fraudulent scheme is named after Charles Ponzi, who in 1920 swindled approximately $15 million from 40,000 investors by offering them 50% returns through his postal reply coupon strategy. However, Ponzi was not the first and certainly not the last person to lure investors into a "too good to be true" investment scheme. Full paper

SPOTLIGHT ON FORENSIC ACCOUNTING
Select Roles of a Forensic Accountant
W. Stephen McConnell ¹, JD, LLM (Taxation), forensic accountant practicing in the Tampa Bay Area

The Journal of Forensic Accounting, D. Larry Crumbley, Editor in Chief, defines “forensic accounting (as) accounting that is suitable for legal review, offering the highest level of assurance, and including the now generally accepted connotation of having been arrived at in a scientific fashion.” This is fine as far as it goes, but I would suggest some elaboration of the term “accounting.” Accounting is not just limited to the accumulation, classification and ordering of numbers in a prescribed format. The more expansive definition includes analysis for some particular purpose and, in the context of forensic accounting, the particular purpose has legal consequences. Full paper

A CASE IN POINT
Forensic Accounting and Scott Rothstein's Ponzi Scheme
Jeff Chesen, NCSTL Research Attorney

According the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud where the organizers promise returns to existing investors that come from funds paid by new investors.1 Frequently Ponzi scheme organizers promise high returns on investments with little or no risk. The scheme often falls apart when the organizer flees with the invested funds or when a sufficient number of investors cannot be found to continue paying dividends to prior investors. Full paper

FROM THE RESEARCH DESK...
Diana Botluk, Director of Research

What is forensic entomology? Where can you learn more about questioned documents? Just what exactly is in the forensic psychology topic in NCSTL's forensic database? More

Visit the NCSTL's Selected Books Added to the NCSTL Collection in the Stetson Library and the NCSTL's Special Collections. Borrow from the collections.

TECHNOLOGY AND DISTANCE EDUCATION NEWS
Dr. Susan Zucker, Director Technology & Distance Education and Publisher/Editor of It's Evident

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