"Maybe it is, and maybe it ain't": Toward an effective strategy for detecting financial irregularities in the information technology age

A bank that consistently ranked among the nation's most profitable community institutions, the First National Bank of Keystone, West Virginia, collapsed in 1999 after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency determined that Keystone did not own nearly half the assets reported on its balance sheet and call reports. As the questioning, finger pointing and calls for regulatory reform recede from view, Keystone today stands as a reminder that when it comes to protecting the integrity of the nation's financial system, human cupidity and mendacity remain Public Enemy No. 1.