Financial firms should take care not to place its full trust in any one employee
Males over the age of 65 holding positions of power and trust are most likely to commit fraud in financial firms and other large organizations, according to a new report by MNP LLP.
The analysis – which looked at hundreds of fraud prosecutions across Canada from 2012 to 2018, all cases involving at least $5,000 – found that twice as many males were convicted compared to their female counterparts. Male fraudsters also swindled at least four times more money than females.
And as with every pursuit, age begets wisdom: Fraudsters in their 50s posted an average of $400,000 in stolen funds, while those in their 70s were wily enough to have pilfered an average of almost $800,000.
Those who held vital positions conned more than double the average taken by those in the rank and file. Most worryingly, the study found that 16% of offenders who were placed in positions of trust already had prior raps filed against them.
“Organizations that fail to properly screen company leaders could be bilked out of millions of dollars,” MNP LLP vice president (valuations, forensics, and litigation support) and former RCMP investigator Greg Draper stated.
“Many organizations may be operating with a false sense of security,” he added. “They may assume that employees in leadership positions or who have been around a long time are safeguarding the interests of the company when, in fact, these individuals are the most capable of committing fraud with the greatest potential loss.”
Jeff Thomson, Acting Sergeant for the RCMP at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, argued that the findings only reinforce the notion that no organization should place its complete trust in any single employee.
“In a lot of cases the fraud has been committed by someone who is very well-liked and respected within the organization. The crime is not only a financial burden for the organization, but there is a loss of workplace morale as well,” Thomson explained.
