LAS VEGAS, July 15 The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) presented its annual Cliff Robertson Sentinel Award Wednesday to Pamela Davis, CEO of Edward Hospital in Naperville, Ill. (near Chicago) at the 20th Annual ACFE Fraud Conference & Exhibition Wednesday in Las Vegas.
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Davis gave an acceptance speech before an audience of more than 2,000 at Bellagio during the closing session of the largest gathering of anti-fraud professionals in the world. The conference features a schedule packed with cutting-edge training seminars, anti-fraud exhibitors and high-profile keynote speakers including Harry Markopolos (the Madoff whistle-blower) and Second Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.
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"The inscription on the award we are presenting to her says, 'for choosing truth over self,'" said ACFE President James D. Ratley, CFE. "That is exactly what Pamela Davis did."
Davis met in 2004 with a construction magnate, an investment banker and a member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. Those meetings held enormous importance. As CEO of Edward Hospital, a facility with nearly 4,500 employees serving patients in the south and west suburbs of Chicago, she and her hospital had been seeking approval to construct a new 146-bed facility. But a construction magnate, an investment banker and a member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board had made a barrage of threats, promises and demands for months as part of a kickback scheme.
Davis informed the FBI, and wore a wire to expose their plan. In May of 2005, her efforts would help investigators prosecute the three fraudsters for their illegal scheme.
"Whistle-blowers like Ms. Davis continue to face threats and retaliation from their superiors and colleagues, yet they choose to speak out regardless," Ratley said.
The Cliff Robertson Sentinel Award is named after the Academy-Award-winning actor who, in the late '70s, discovered a Hollywood producer who was creating phony royalty checks, forging the signatures of those for whom the checks were intended and pocketing the cash.
This powerful mogul threatened Robertson, telling him that if Robertson reported him, he'd never work in Hollywood again. Robertson went forward with his report and as a result he was blacklisted and wasn't hired again in the film industry until years later.
About the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners:
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) is the world's largest anti-fraud organization and the premier provider of anti-fraud training and education. Together with nearly 50,000 members, the ACFE is reducing the incidence of fraud and white-collar crime worldwide and inspiring public confidence in the integrity and objectivity within the profession. In addition, the ACFE offers its members the unique opportunity for professional certification as a Certified Fraud Examiner.
Contact the ACFE
For more information, visit www.ACFE.com
SOURCE The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
