Combating Occupational Fraud in Organizations

Occupational Fraud as defined by Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) is “the use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misappropriation of the employing organization’s resources or assets.” ACFE

We should note the following about Occupational Fraud

1. It’s fraud committed against an organization from within.
2. It could be committed by directors or employees; that is by executive management or employees
3. This fraud is an attack against an organization by the very persons entrusted to protect the company’s assets and resources
4. It is an abuse of trust
5. Most of these fraud cases are detected through tips, which adds credence to the call for instituitionalizing whistle-blowing
6. Every government and business organization across the world is vulnerable or potentially vulnerable to this fraud
7. Although most of the employees will never commit this fraud, the few that do can cause significant damage
8. Most responsibility for these frauds are attributable to Internal Control lapses
9. Being aware of the types of frauds that could occur in organisations is important. It is also useful that we know the causes and how to curb them; however, we derive the most benefit when we put to practice what we know.

Watch this space for more tips…to be continued