The right inside track

For more information about Protiviti’s fraud services, contact Sean Holohan on tel: +44 (0) 20 7024 7530; email: s.holohan@protiviti.co.uk, visit www.protiviti.co.uk

“It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is for people to commit fraud within their place of work,” Mike Adlem of Protiviti writes in the foreword to a unique piece of research commissioned by his firm that was published last month. In “Learning from fraudsters” Martin Gill, professor of criminology at Leicester University, draws on interviews with 16 convicted fraudsters who agreed to speak to him from prison [1] about what they did and why, and how they viewed their actions and subsequent punishment. The sums involved ranged from UK£65,000 to an estimated UK£25 million. All the subjects were male and they were mainly in married or long-term relationships, or had been at some stage during the commission of their offences. A couple maintained their innocence and for the majority it was their first prison sentence. The identities of all interviewees were disguised.