Page 562 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

Case Results

Action Taken Against Perpetrator
Beyond recovery of losses, punishing perpetrators of occupational fraud can be an important part of the victim orga-
nization’s fraud prevention program, as it sends a clear message about management’s anti-fraud stance. Figure 106
shows that termination was by far the most common punishment for occupational fraudsters (64.1% of cases). In some
instances, suspects received softer punishments, such as resignation (10%) or probation or suspension (8%). How best
to handle occupational fraud can vary depending on the circumstances and the best interests of the organization. Still, it
is interesting that 5.7% of suspected perpetrators received no punishment.

Figure 106: Action Taken Against Perpetrator

A CTION TAKEN A GAINST PERPETRATOR
Termination 64.1%
Other 11.3%

Settlement Agreement 10.7%
Permitted or
Required Resignation 10.0%
Perpetrator Was No
Longer With Organization 8.3%

Probation or Suspension 8.0%

No Punishment 5.7%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
PERCENT OF CASES

Fines Against Victim Organization
While we generally think of individual perpetrators being responsible for fraud, sometimes organizations are punished for
having inadequate controls or otherwise allowing the fraud to occur. For the first time, we asked respondents about fines
levied against the victim organization. Figure 107 shows that 8.4% of victim organizations were fined as a result of the fraud.

Figure 107: Fines Against Victim Organizations
Adding Injury to Injury:
Received a Fine Fine Amounts
8.4%
An additional fraud risk for many organizations is the
potential that they will receive fines from authorities
on top of any fraud losses. For the organizations in our
study that received a monetary penalty:

15% of Fines Were $10,000 or Less

of Fines Were Between
31% $10,000 and $100,000

31% of Fines Were Between
$100,000 and $1,000,000
6.6% 2.9%
of Fines Were More
22%
Did Not Receive a Fine than $1,000,000
91.6%

78 REPORT TO THE NATIONS ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE