Occupational fraud happens more in private companies than their public counterparts. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ 2020 Report to the Nations said that 44 percent of reported frauds occurred in private companies, 26 percent in public companies, 9 percent in nonprofits, and 21 percent in government or other entities. These numbers indicate that having a board of directors and management team that prioritize fighting fraud is crucial.

Most organizations grow complacent with their internal controls that fraud actors can end up easily working around them. More interestingly, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants said that most of the major damaging fraud cases from the last 50 years were instigated by members of senior management – they circumvented and overrode seemingly efficient systems of internal control.