Thieving employees in Asia steal twice as much as those in the rest of the world

The average workplace fraud in Asia is US$300,000 compared to a worldwide average of $160,000.

The median fraud loss for organisations in Asia is about $300,000 USD – significantly higher than the global median loss of $160,000, according to a survey of Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) who investigated cases between January 2008 and December 2009.

Corruption was the most commonly reported scheme, appearing in more than half of the Asia-Pacific fraud cases in the study. Survey respondents also estimate that the typical organization loses 5 percent of its annual revenue to fraud, which is consistent with the study’s worldwide estimate.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) recently published Asia-Pacific findings from its global survey in the 2010 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud & Abuse, Asia-Pacific Edition. The new Report breaks down data gathered from 338 fraud cases in Asia-Pacific countries, providing benchmarking statistics on occupational fraud losses, detection methods and perpetrators.

Key findings from the 84-page Report include:

· Asset misappropriation is the most common type of occupational fraud. Asset misappropriations occurred in 80 percent of all cases. Financial statement fraud was the most expensive category, causing a median loss of $4.3 million. This is consistent with the ACFE’s worldwide figures.

· Fraud committed from the top of an organisation is the most damaging. Occupational frauds committed by owners/executives caused a median loss of $1 million. Losses caused by managers and employees were $242,000 and $200,000, respectively.

· Most offenders have no criminal record. Approximately 85 percent of fraud perpetrators had never been charged with, or convicted of, a prior criminal offense.

· Surprise audits and tips are leading methods of reducing losses. The anti-fraud controls that had the greatest impact on occupational fraud losses were surprise audits and hotlines. Both controls were associated with a loss reduction of more than 40 percent.

The Report also details findings such as how organisations were affected based upon industry, how the implementation of anti-fraud controls affected exposure to fraud, additional breakdowns of fraud statistics by geographical region and the most common behavioural traits observed among fraud perpetrators.

The 2010 Report to the Nations, Asia-Pacific Edition is available for download online at the ACFE’s website: www.ACFE.com/rttn/2010-RTTN-inter-edition.asp.