Page 543 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

Perpetrators

But interestingly, when we break this analysis down further to compare losses at each level of authority, males still tend
to cause significantly higher losses than females (see Figure 83). At the employee level, the median loss for a male
fraudster was $72,000 versus $55,000 for a female; this represents a 30.9% increase. At the manager level, frauds com-
mitted by men were 18.6% larger than those committed by females, and at the owner/executive level, frauds by men
were 175% larger. This is comparable to our findings in 2014 and 2012.

Figure 83: Position of Perpetrator—Median Loss Based on Gender

POSITION OF PERPETRATOR Owner/Executive $150,000 $300,000 $825,000 Male
$72,000
Employee
$55,000
$178,000
Manager

Female

$600,000
$200,000
$400,000
$0
MEDIAN L OSS $800,000 $1,000,000
In addition to differences in frequency and loss, our data also indicates a discrepancy in the types of fraud committed
by males and females. According to Figure 84, 43.9% of male perpetrators committed corruption and 12.6% committed
financial statement fraud. Conversely, only 22.6% of female perpetrators committed corruption and only 5.3% com-
mitted financial statement fraud. Corruption and financial statement fraud tend to cause much higher losses than asset
misappropriation (see Figure 5 on page 12), so this discrepancy in the type of fraud committed might also help explain
why frauds committed by males tend to be much larger.

Figure 84: Frequency of Schemes Based on Gender

Asset 81.8%
Misappropriation 90.1%
SCHEME TYPE Corruption 12.6% 22.6% 43.9% Male

Financial
Statement Fraud

0% 5.3% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Female
PERCENT OF CASES

REPORT TO THE NATIONS ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE 59