Current Events Reports (3 for this course):
These assignments are intended to:(a) increase your ability to research current events related to fraud,(b) increase your understanding of a particular type of fraud, and(c) provide an opportunity to critically evaluate articles about fraud.
Please, use a local news report or perhaps the Internet to find a fraud case involving a type of fraud covered to date in the course. The submission should be presented in Times New Roman font, 12 pitch, and one-inch margins, which are standard for APA (American Psychological Association) formatting. Paragraphs should be single-spaced, with one blank line between paragraphs. The use of language to extend length without much content is obvious and will be discounted accordingly. Following these guidelines, you will have plenty of content to fulfill the two to three-page length requirement. No more than three pages of narrative should be necessary for most cases. Most reports can be completed in two pages or less.
· Select and read a current events article discussing a fraud case. In this context, current refers to articles published within the past 18 months. If you reside overseas, an article published in an overseas news report may be used, if appropriate sourcing is used in the submitted Report. Sources in English are required. APA reference list entries typically end with: Retrieved from, followed by a hyperlink to the article. This might be important for sources published overseas.
· Write a one-paragraph summary of the case. A summary should state, in your own words, the main issues of the case and key facts. A summary is not a retyping of all or part of the source article. Use proper APA referencing, including in-text citations and a reference list, referring to the article you are using as a source for facts about the case you are presenting. It is best to begin with, a sentence about the crime and to include an in-text citation. Including the title of the article, you retrieved the case details from is not as professional as stating a fact about the case, with an in-text citation.
· Write two to four paragraphs about the relevance of the case to the industry and fraud. This is where you analyze the fraud case. Consider the following:
o Identify the key issues posed by the case.
o List the applicable stakeholders and their rights and obligations.
o Which choices were available to the individual(s) involved and what were or are the costs or tradeoffs?
o Comment on how the situation was or should be resolved.
o Who (individual or group) was or will be impacted by the situation?
o Point out any questions you believe should be considered by your readers about the case that will add substance to learning.
o Write a paragraph to express your opinion about the case and the issues involved. Be sure to back up your opinions. Remember, this is your opinion about the case and issues involved, not about how the article you are referring to was written.
o Be certain to comment on what controls or aspects of the circumstances involved surrounding the fraud might be changed to deter future frauds of similar nature. This relates specifically to the deterrence aspect of the class material and is important. Suggested changes should be supported by sources from class readings or similar sources from the UMGC Library.
o Verify there is a reference within your Report to the article you found the case details in. Usually, that is referred to with an in-text citation in the sentence where you first refer to the case.
The Report should be written in prose, rather than provided as a bullet list or in an outline format.
The deliverable should be single-spaced, with a blank line between paragraphs. Indented first lines for each paragraph are preferred. Examples of APA in-text citation formats and reference list formatting are available from the Resources in our classroom. Submitted Reports are to be single-spaced because they are likely closest to the format you would provide summaries and documents to your professional colleagues and organization leaders.
