Zero tolerance: there’s a realistic alternative

Nigel Iyer (+ 47 906 54 410 or + 44 7253 570004; nigel.iyer@hibis.com) has over 20 years’ experience investigating and detecting fraud and corruption. A computer scientist and chartered accountant, Nigel soon found his true passion lay in rooting out corruption and fraud. Nigel is also a dramatist, having written a number of films and plays based on his experiences, many of which are used in teaching worldwide. He has written several books and papers, and teaches widely how to defend organisations against the “commercial dark arts”. He is also a fellow of the University of Leicester School of Business.This article, edited by Martin Stevens ACA, was first published in the December 2017 edition of SIRK, the bi-annual magazine of the Institute of Internal Auditors in Norway (http://iia.no/sirk/).

Seven years ago, writes Nigel Krishna Iyer, I made a short film called “Fraud and Corruption – Forgiveness and Compassion” [1], which was based on a true story and demonstrated how we often treat the symptoms of corruption and fraud. We tend to “throw the book at” the few people we catch, but because it’s hard to investigate complex cases the big cheaters often get away and the root causes remain unresolved.