Thieves from within: occupational fraud in Canada
| Published date | 29 December 2011 |
| Date | 29 December 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13590791211190722 |
| Pages | 54-64 |
| Author | Dominic Peltier‐Rivest,Nicole Lanoue |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
Thieves from within:
occupational fraud in Canada
Dominic Peltier-Rivest
Centre for Academic Leadership, Concordia University, Montre
´al, Canada, and
Nicole Lanoue
E
´cole des sciences de la gestion, Universite
´du Que
´bec a
`Montre
´al,
Montre
´al, Canada
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the characteristics of perpetrators of occupational
fraud and their effects on organizations.
Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a 2006 occupational fraud web survey
conducted in Canada by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) using a multivariate
regression analysis to explain the effect of perpetrators’ characteristics on fraud losses.
Findings – The authors’ analyses show that the perpetrator’s position (i.e. employee, manager,
executive/owner), gender, education level and the presence of accomplices (i.e. collusion) appear to
affect fraud losses when analyzed separately. However, only the perpetrator’s position and collusion
are statistically significant when controlling for the potential correlation among explanatory factors.
Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to academia and the anti-fraud
profession by measuring the statistical effect of perpetrators’ characteristics on fraud losses while
controlling for the potential correlation among these characteristics.
Practical implications – This study is useful to regulatory agencies and anti-fraud professionals
because it provides information about the characteristics of perpetrators of occupational fraud, who
are more likely to be associated with larger frauds, thus pinpointing where prevention and detection
efforts may be most effective.
Originality/value – This paper is based on proprietary data owned by the ACFE and is the first to
analyze the statistical significance of the characteristics of perpetrators of occupational fraud in
Canada.
Keywords Canada, Financialcrime, Criminals, Fraud, Occupationalfraud, White-collar offenders,
Prevention, Detection, Attributes, Characteristics, Perpetrators
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
For 40 years, Bernie Madoff, an affable crook who mingled with the country club elite, operated
a Ponzi scheme that is believed to have defrauded investors of an estimated US$65 billion.
Madoff pleaded guilty on March 3, 2009, to 11 criminal charges. His lawyer noted that at age
71 his client had a life expectancy of 13 years and asked the judge to impose a 12-year sentence.
Ignoring the defense recommendation, on June 29, 2009, federal district court judge
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1359-0790.htm
The authors would like to thank the Government of Que
´bec (Fonds de recherche sur la socie
´te
´et
la culture – FQRSC) for its financial support and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
(ACFE) for providing the data. The authors also wish to thank the participants of the 2011
American Accounting Association (AAA) Annual Conference (Denver, Colorado) for their
helpful comments.
JFC
19,1
54
Journal of Financial Crime
Vol. 19 No. 1, 2012
pp. 54-64
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/13590791211190722
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