Page 43 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

T H E P E R P E T R A T O R S

Survey respondents provided information about the perpetrators of the crimes they had investigated. This data, summarized

below, helps profile fraud perpetrators and shows how certain factors affect the size of the losses that these perpetrators

inflict upon their victims.

T H E E F F E C T O F P O S I T I O N

One of the strongest indicators of the size of the loss in an occupational fraud scheme is the position that the perpetrator

holds within the victim organization. As the following data shows, schemes committed by managers and executives, on

average, cause median losses of $250,000, which was about 3.5 times as high as losses associated with frauds committed by

rank and file employees. Such a relationship could be expected, since higher-level employees have a greater degree of

control over company assets. This trend was also evident in the 1996 Report.

P O S I T I O N O F P E R P E T R A T O R
PERPETRATOR POSITION/
PERCENT OF CASES

Manager or Executive (41.9%) $250,000

Employee (64.1%) $70,000

MEDIAN COST

P A G E 1 3