Crossing the Line: Ordinary People Commi ...

Diann Cattani was a human resources consultant hired to manage a large-scale project for a private company based in Atlanta, Ga. She was the sole financial officer, handling functions such as payroll, check signing, and reconciling bank statements. As time went on, Diann's workload increased but she didn't feel that her salary was keeping pace with her increased workload and responsibility.  She became dissatisfied with her compensation and resentful of her employer.  Even so, it was an incidental mistake that spurred her initial descent into deception.

Diann's pivotal "crossing the line" moment came during a family vacation.  Her travel agent accidentally charged Diann's family vacation to her corporate American Express card. Diann noticed the mistake and planned to reimburse the company as soon as she returned to work.  But, she never did.

Once back at work, Diann's resentment toward her employer began to grow. The work was piling up and she began to rationalize that the firm owed her money for all of the duties she was performing. Using the travel expense incident as a springboard, Diann began to steal money from the company. She rationalized using company money to hire and pay for babysitters when she worked late. She used corporate money to pay for gas and personal meals. When she filled out purchase requests for office equipment for the company, she included equipment for her home office as well. 

Diann took advantage of many opportunities to steal. She reimbursed herself from physical receipts and, when the credit card statement came in, she reimbursed herself again for the same items.  She created "dummy” invoices and used them to pay herself. She also paid personal credit card accounts with company checks and initiated other forms of deceit and criminal subterfuge.

The fraud Diann committed is typically rationalized by many corporate criminals as legitimate action; but they're actually classified as anti-organizational employee workplace crime.

Diann was able to commit these crimes because her employer allowed her to control all its financial accounts. In just a few short years, Diann stole approximately $500,000. With the guilt of her crimes weighing on her conscience and affecting her health, Diann ultimately confessed to the company's owners. She served 18 months in a Florida federal prison.

Diann's story illustrates how the elements of the fraud triangle--motivation/pressure, opportunity & rationalization--can converge and result in an ordinary person committing an extraordinary crime.  It also serves as a cautionary tale about the consequences of such transgressions.

Caption 2: Diann Cattani explains her rationalizations for committing fraud.