Corporate fraud has always been one of the scourges of civilized society, although in the past decade we have witnessed unprecedented levels of greed in corporate culture. The past decade has been marred by Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia and many others, as fraud shrinks our economy by approximately six percent. Watchful eyes cannot be everywhere at all times, but often the problem is that the individuals responsible for oversight lapse on their duty of independence. In response, wide scale reform has been passed into law as the government tries to combat the problem on all fronts. However, even the most stringent reforms, reporting requirements, and penalties do not deter all fraudulent behavior within the corporate environment. I want this series of articles to serve as reference point for a variety of individuals, since fraud is a serious concern whose aftershocks can be felt well outside of the company. Thoroughly understanding and utilizing the methods contained in this book will help combat the challenges we now face today in the work place.
Key Takeaways
- Corporate fraud has always been one of the scourges of civilized society, although in the past decade we have witnessed unprecedented levels of greed in corporate culture.
- Fraud can be defined with the concept of the rogue employee. This person is any employee of the corporation who goes beyond the duties they were hired for conspires and executes attacks.
- Before tackling the internal controls needed to prevent fraud in the workplace, I wanted to tackle the underlying motivations for what makes a person commit this type of behavior. To help explain the underpinnings of the problem, I want to cite the work of Dr.
