Page 445 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

Figure 41 shows the strong correlation between a fraudster’s level of authority and the financial impact of the
fraud. In our 2014 data, owners/executives accounted for less than one-fifth of all frauds, but the median loss in
owner/executive cases was $500,000, approximately four times higher than the median loss caused by managers
and nearly seven times that of employees. Authority tends to be strongly correlated with loss because high-level
fraudsters generally have greater access to organizational assets and are better able to evade or override controls
than lower-level employees.

Figure 41: Position of Perpetrator — Median Loss

$75,000
Employee $60,000 $130,000
$80,000
POSITION OF PERPETRATOR Owner/Executive $182,000 $500,000 $573,000 $723,000 2014
Manager
$200,000

$250,000
2012
$100,000
Other*
2010
$0 $200,000 $400,000 $600,000 $800,000
*“Other” category was not included in the 2010 Report. MEDIAN LOSS

Additionally, because higher-level fraudsters Figure 42: Median Duration of Fraud Based on Position
are typically in a better position to circumvent
controls, it generally takes longer for victim Position Median Months to Detect
organizations to detect these schemes. Figure 42
shows that the typical fraud committed by an Employee 12
employee lasts one year before it is detected. In Manager 18
contrast, frauds committed by managers have Owner/Executive 24
a median duration of 18 months, and frauds
involving owners/executives last a median two Other 16
years before the perpetrators are caught.

REPORT TO THE NATIONS ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE 41