Page 23 - Insurance Times July 2021

b. Perception of being treated unfairly by the will notice if funds are taken, initiates the fraud with a
organization (9%) small amount of money. If no one notices, the amount
c. Resentment towards superiors will usually grow bigger.
d. Frustration with job Opportunity Aspect of the Case Study
o In terms of opportunity, her bosses trusted her and
e. Insatiable desire for self-enrichment or personal
gain held her in high regard. She had proved herself
crucial, on both professional and personal fronts,
f. Wheeler - dealer attitude (18%)
and was given access to their cheque books in
order to settle their domestic bills and personal
Let us examine a case study based on the Fraud Triangle:
finances.
Case study is of the Secretary Who Stole over £4.3 million o A little over a year after starting at Goldman Sachs,
from her bosses at Goldman Sachs. We will correlate all the she began forging her bosses' signatures on
aspects of the Fraud Triangle in this case study. personal cheques to make payments into her own
X Incentive/Pressure, such as a financial need, is the accounts. Realizing she had got away with it, she
"purpose" for compelling the fraud. continued to steal money by issuing forged cheques
and making false money transfers.
Motivation Aspect of the Case Study:
o Secretary originally started down her fraudulent
path because of financial difficulties she found In any business, the risk of fraud can be reduced. Internal
herself in before starting work at the investment control measures can particularly reduce the "opportunity"
bank. angle of the Fraud Triangle.
X Final Conclusion on the Case Study:
o The motive behind the fraud as primarily greed o After four years of siphoning off vast amounts of
though, with secretary spending her ill gotten gains money, she was eventually caught when her boss
on a luxury lifestyle, including villas, cars, jewellery, at the time decided to make a six-figure donation
designer clothes and first class holidays. She has to his former college. He took a look at his bank
even admitted that she did not steal because she
accounts to see if he could cover the donation and
needed to, but because she could. She explained was astonished to find the balance on the accounts
that she first started taking money basically to find
become so little.
out if she possibly will get away with it.
o He investigated further and realized that large
o She says that it then developed 'a bit addictive' and
sums had been transferred to an unknown account.
that she 'got a huge thrill from knowing they had
no impression what I was doing. o Secretary was the obvious suspect. By this time, she
had actually stolen around £3.3 million
X Rationalization: The individual committing the fraud
regularly justifies the fraud. Justifications may include,
"I'll pay the money back", "They will certainly not miss
the funds", or "They don't pay me adequate."
Rationalization Aspect of the Case Study:
o She was able to rationalize her actions by
convincing herself that she had earned the money
she stole.
o De-Laurey believed that she earned the stolen
amounts as a just prize for her dedication,
discretion and devotion, and claims that she had
the permission of her bosses to take money in
return for her 'vital services'.
o She vindicated her activities through the belief that
her superiors had cash to spare.
X Opportunity The individual committing the fraud sees
an internal control weakness and, considering no one

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