M
ost white collar criminals didn’t wake up one morning and say: “Today feels like a good day to steal from my employer”. Most didn’t plan to take one giant leap down the road to prison. Many of them found themselves in what felt to them like impossible situations with options that ranged from bad to worse. They took little steps; made “small”, seemingly justifiable decisions that, when viewed as a whole, were obviously fraudulent. But each step, each decision on its own, in isolation, could be rationalize by them as the “right decision”. That’s certainly no excuse for their actions; but understanding their actions can provide insight into how fraud begins. It can better equip us to take proactive steps to prevent fraud in our business environments and better equip us to take proactive steps to prevent the unleashing of the potential felon within all of us.
