Page 538 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

Perpetrators

Figure 75: Frequency and Median Loss Based on Position of Perpetrator—Middle East and North Africa

$1,600,000 45%
$1,500,000
42.3%
$1,400,000 40%
36.6% 35%
$1,200,000
30%
MEDIAN L OSS $800,000 25% PERCENT OF CASES
$1,000,000

20%
$600,000

$400,000 16.9% 15%
$308,000 10%
$200,000
$200,000 5%
$0 0%
Employee Manager Owner/Executive

POSITION OF PERPETRATOR
Median Loss Percent of Cases

Perpetrator’s Tenure
In addition to the correlation between fraud losses and the fraudster’s level of authority, fraud losses also tend to in-
crease the longer a fraudster has worked for the victim organization, as shown in Figure 76. Perpetrators with between
six and ten years’ tenure caused a median loss of $210,000, and those with more than ten years’ tenure caused a median
fraud loss of $250,000. In cases where the fraudster had been employed by the victim for five years or fewer, losses were
significantly lower. At least in part, this trend reflects the fraudster’s position of authority. As shown in Figure 65 on page
49, employees generally cause much smaller losses than managers or executives. Approximately one-half of the fraud-
sters with five or fewer years of tenure were classified as employees, whereas less than one-third of the fraudsters with
six or more years of tenure were employees. In other words, people who stay at an organization for a long period of time
often move up to higher levels of authority, which in turn gives them the opportunity to commit larger frauds.

Figure 76: Tenure of Perpetrator—Frequency and Median Loss

$300,000 45%
42.4%
40%
$250,000
$250,000
35%
$210,000 30%
$200,000
MEDIAN L OSS $150,000 $100,000 26.5% 22.9% 25% PERCENT OF CASES

20%
15%
$100,000
10%
$50,000 8.2%
$49,000 5%
$0 0%
Less than 1 Year 1–5 Years 6–10 Years More than 10 Years

TENURE OF PERPETRATOR
Median Loss Percent of Cases

54 REPORT TO THE NATIONS ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE