Page 695 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

As seen in Figure 28, the FIG. 28 How does the perpetrator’s level of authority relate to
length of fraud schemes also scheme duration?
tends to rise in correlation with 24 months
the perpetrator’s authority. The 18 months
median duration of a fraud
committed by an owner/execu- MEDIAN DURATION 12 months
tive was 24 months, compared
to 18 months for schemes
committed by managers and 12
months for those committed by
staff-level employees. Employee Manager Owner/executive

Perpetrator’s Tenure

The longer a fraud perpetrator works for a company, the more damage that person’s scheme is likely to cause,
as shown in Figure 29. Those who had been with the victim organization for at least ten years stole a median
USD 200,000, which was four times greater than the median loss caused by employees with less than one
year of tenure.

FIG. 29 How does the perpetrator’s tenure relate to occupational fraud?

9% <1 year $50,000

46% 1–5 years $100,000

22% 6–10 years $190,000

23% >10 years $200,000

PERCENT OF C A SES
MEDIAN L OSS

Perpetrators Report to the Nations 39