The concept was a response to a commonly expressed need by corporate leaders, government officials, attorneys, academics and forensic accounting colleagues for a forum to raise and discuss fraud and corruption issues, said Frank Piantidosi, CEO and chairman of Deloitte FAS.

The agenda includes independent and jointly developed research, business and academic forums and peer discussions as well as industry benchmarking initiatives. A particular focus will be placed on the use of technology as a means of providing solutions to fraud and corruption detection, mitigation, and prevention. The Center also hopes to contribute to the development of the forensic accounting profession and to raise its profile in discussions of issues of public importance.

Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, has volunteered to advise the Center on the selection of topics for study.

"The problems of fraud and corruption are, in fact, matters of increasing concern to official international institutions as well as businesses. I hope the work of the Deloitte Forensic Center and others can contribute to more effective economic development practices," said Volcker.

Working groups comprised of Deloitte FAS and non-Deloitte FAS professionals will research and analyze the topics selected. The working groups will be formed for single topics and will be in place only until they report their results. The Center anticipates that two to three topics will be explored within the next year by the individual working groups.

The day-to-day operations will be spearheaded by Frank Hydoski and Toby Bishop, a director and partner, respectively, in the Forensic and Dispute Services practice of Deloitte FAS.

"Fraud and corruption today create such a high cost and potential threat to organizations and to our society that new approaches to detecting, mitigating and preventing both are needed," said Bishop. "Couple this with an increasingly strict regulatory environment and the need for a leading think tank that can bring people together to create fresh insights is readily apparent."

For more information, visit http://www.deloitte.com/us/forensiccenter