“No one cares”

“Our survey showed that 67% of people in your division admitted they will, would, or have broken the rules because of (mainly time) pressures. What do you want to do about it?” So asked a friend trying to combat fraud in a huge multinational. The CFO’s reply, “Nothing. I don’t care.”

My friend dug a bit deeper. The CFO was managing a potential restructuring, the sustainability performance was sliding, and they’d just had a savaging from a DEI consultant. The CFO didn’t have the headspace or capacity to tackle potential fraud (broadly defined, including corruption, conflicts of interest, bribery, etc.).

Not uncommon. Fraud is often a poor relation to other risks. To some, it seems ‘small’ (on a case-by-case basis). To others, it’s tedious, complex, or just “not something that happens to us.”

If you’re facing that malaise, would it help to explain to stakeholders that fraud is one of your best indicators of all those other problems that ‘are’ priorities? If you’re restructuring and people fear for their jobs, what might they do to line their nests before the paycheck dries up? Sustainability reporting is riven with fraud (greenwashing is fraud by another name). If your DEI is on the skids, well, you’ll have people who feel little loyalty at the bottom of the organogram committing petty fraud, and those on top will likely be able to act with impunity (big fraud).

I’ve seen this pattern time and again. Risk loves company. The solutions to many of the CFO’s malaises (including fraud) are human. Seeing fraud as distinct from other human-centric risks is missing a trick (two sides of the triangle below speak to the behavioural aspect).

If you’re curious about where you stack up, take the Fraud Prevention Scorecard here.