Bart Henderson

It is Henderson’s work as a Forensic Auditor that best describes his capacity and capability which is borne out by a list of some of the most challenging and complex cases to date.

Henderson possesses one of the most analytical minds in the business, with an almost unnatural ability to spot the tiniest crack or flaw in a case and exploit it to the detriment of his adversaries.

This coupled with a tireless work ethic, an almost pathological desire for positive results and the drive to succeed, has seen him both lauded and vilified, but seldom ignored.

Henderson knows more about the practical application of Forensic Audit investigation methodology and innovation and Corporate Governance with particular emphasis on Conflict of Interest, than probably any single individual in Africa.

In South Africa, and in many parts of Africa, Henderson is regarded as much more than a Forensic Auditor; he is regarded as an icon in the field of Fraud Investigation.

Some Interesting Facts

In 1989 the phrase Forensic Auditor was coined in South Africa by KPMG.

Prior to 1989, this very high profile profession today simply did not exist.

Between 1989 and 1994, while the term “Forensic Auditor” caught on, the “profession” itself remained relatively rag tag with the only criteria being that one worked in a “Forensic Audit” department to be classified a “Forensic Auditor”.

Having spent 6 years in the private hospital industry as Group Risk Manager at Clinic Holdings with a background in Industrial Psychology and Organisational Culture, Bart Henderson quickly realised that merely calling oneself a “Forensic Auditor” did not necessarily translate into offering a professional service.

At the time South Africa was in the turmoil of uncertainty and insecurity, the ANC was unbanned, Nelson Mandela was being released, and the movement of capital (capital flight) out the country in violation of exchange controls and illegal trade in currency (round-tripping) was the order of the day.

This period marked what was to become the era of the “get rich quick” mentality we have adopted.

It was self evident at that time, that something needed to be done to counter the threat of rampant levels of fraud and corruption, and that merely establishing Forensic Audit Departments would not achieve the result of attending to the threat of an already shaky economy on a macro level.

This period marked what was to become the era of the “get rich quick” mentality we have become familiar with in South Africa today on a scale that threatened the transition to and future sustainability of an inevitable popular democratic movement. It was self evident then at the time, that something needed to be done to counter the threat of rampant levels of fraud and corruption and that merely establishing Forensic Audit Departments would not achieve the result of attending to the threat to an already shaky economy on a macro level.

South Africa would need many more experts in the field of Fraud Risk Management and they would need to be highly skilled.

Henderson also realised the professions themselves were ill equipped. With Statements on Standards and practices hopelessly outdated and increasingly outpaced by a changing business landscape both politically and technologically, when coupled with the lack of professional competencies was a recipe for disaster.

In the period between 1989 and 1994 South Africa had no formal training for professional practitioners which Henderson concluded was crucial to the success of the country under any new Government.

This realisation prompted Henderson to leave South Africa immediately after the first Democratic elections for the United States, where he spent approximately 9 months commuting between Las Vegas and Austin Texas , familiarising himself with the training courses of the Texas based Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Henderson obtained Certified Fraud Examiner Status (CFE) in July 1994 and returned to South Africa armed with the first formal accreditation in South Africa and Africa for Fraud Investigators, along with the entire Certified Fraud Examiner syllabi which he promptly began to introduce into the country.

This initiative led Henderson to lobby, recruit and train other CFE’s in South Africa which finally led to the founding of the South African Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, a body which has grown to include hundreds of the top Forensic Auditors in the country today.

The ACFE course material was subsequently recognised and adopted by the Universities of Pretoria and Johannesburg, and subsequently incorporated into Degree courses. The rest as they say – is history, with similar syllabi in most tertiary institutions, and South Africa boasting among the most recognised and sought after qualifications in Africa.

Not satisfied with this remarkable initiative and achievement, Henderson spent the next 3 or 4 years turning to study South Africa’s Company, Constitutional and Criminal Laws, including the Statements of Standards of the professions.

His articles began appearing in Business Day and other reputable journals highlighting specific deficiencies in South African law and the misalignment of the professions statements on standards in general application in modern evolving societies.

Of particular concern was the lack of oversight and independence of the professions coupled with hopelessly inadequate guidelines for identifying and responding to the threat of fraud.

Henderson became the first Forensic Auditor in South Africa to publicly question the role of the professions in the decline of corporate morality, in South Africa and the world, and to actively lobby for the overhaul of the professions in 1996.

In 1997 he began to study and document fraud in the workplace, setting himself the challenge to establish definitively the finite levels to which fraud could be identified and measured in an organisation. This task was to take 3 years, culminating in his first book nominated by the ACFE as Book of the Week in September 2000, and critically acclaimed by the South African Institute of Internal Auditors and South African National Society of Internal Auditors.

The Forensic Audit investigation methodologies Henderson pioneered in South Africa can be found in virtually every Fraud Management plan of the country’s Top 100 companies today, having evolved into a definitive blueprint for Enterprise Wide Fraud Risk Management.

Henderson’s determined efforts and desire to see the profession’s landscape change into a modern, accountable, innovative and dynamic one has been realised in many events, including the passing into law of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the insistence of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that all listed Companies comply with King Committee recommendations on Corporate Governance, and finally the total revision of the South African Companies Act to include many of King I, King II and King III recommendations on Corporate Governance, as well as revised Statements of Standards of the professions.

Whether you need a Fraud Investigator, a highly experienced Lecturer to show your staff the ropes and tricks of the trade, an added dimension to your Litigation or oversight to protect your current or future investment in South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, DRC or Zambia, then Henderson Solutions is a must.