Page 624 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

From the perspective FIG. 42 Does the perpetrator’s position affect the punishment for fraud?
of ethics and fair-
ness, there might be Termination
no reason to treat a 44%
high-level fraud perpe- 67%
trator more leniently 72%
than an entry-level
employee. However, Settlement agreement 18%
our data shows that 12%
punishment is substan- 10%
tially dependent on the
perpetrator’s position Perpetrator was no longer with organization
at the organization. 15%
While employees and 12%
mid-level managers 10%
are more likely than Permitted or required resignation
not to be terminated 16%
(72% and 67%, respec- 11%
tively), fewer than half 8%
of owners/executives
were terminated (44%). Probation or suspension
Generally, the higher up 7%
the perpetrators were 8%
at the organization, the 8%
more likely they were to No punishment
receive lighter punish- 12%
ments (e.g., permitted or 5%
required resignation) or 3%
no punishment at all.
Owner/executive Manager Employee

Criminal Prosecutions and Civil Suits

After a fraud has been discovered and investigated, a civil suit being filed for each of our studies dating
the case might proceed to prosecution, civil litiga- back to 2008. This chart illustrates that the rate of
tion, both, or neither. There are many factors that can criminal referrals has gradually decreased over that
affect this result, such as the amount of the financial time, from 69% in 2008 to 58% in 2018. In contrast,
loss, the strength of evidence, and prosecutorial the rate at which civil suits are filed has stayed
discretion. Figure 43 shows the percent of cases consistent, ranging from 22% to 24% within the same
that were referred to law enforcement or resulted in timeframe.

48 Case Results Report to the Nations