I'm a CFELisa S. Duke, CFE, CPA, CFFA, provides accountability to the citizens of New York State through the comptroller's office's audits and investigations. She supervises audits with teams of one to five staff members, ensures that each audit meets professional standards, reviews and evaluates work papers and facts supporting audit findings and recommendations. Duke then discusses those findings and recommendations with agency officials. She also prepares the draft report, among other duties. 
I chose to become an accounting major because at a young age I realized the significance of this profession to companies' operations and our economic stability. I had read stories of embezzlement and money laundering, and I realized that we need auditors to keep people honest.While at college, we did several case studies on fraud such as ZZZZ Best. My undergraduate auditing professor, Douglas Carmichael, Ph.D., CFE [Baruch College, City University of New York], introduced me to the areas of fraud and forensic accounting. The discussions we had in class led to my interest and awareness. I was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, and my favorite activities growing up were playing soccer and chess.I became passionate about fraud fighting after reading about the Enron and WorldCom scandals. I felt the need to be part of a profession that improves entities' operations and accountability by conducting examinations and reviews.After completing my MBA, the NYS Comptrollers' Office, which had representatives at my college career fair, offered me a position. I have gained expertise and experience in investigative interviewing techniques, specialized fraud audit tools, data analysis, forensic document review, custody and preserving evidence, and using the Internet to investigate fraud suspects.I recently led a team that conducted several forensic audits of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) payroll practices. The MTA, which is one of the largest mass transit systems in the world, has seven constituent agencies and employs more than 71,000 workers at an annual cost of about $4.6 billion.
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