Tony Billings and Cedric Knott accepted for publication in Journal of Forensic and Investigative Accounting
Mike Ilitch School of Business Professor of Accounting Tony Billings and Adjunct Faculty Member Cedric Knott have had an article accepted for publication in the Journal of Forensic and Investigative Accounting, which publishes creative and innovative studies and research that highlight academic forensic accounting, fraud and litigation service issues.
The paper, titled “The Tangible and Intangible Costs of White-Collar Crime,” was co-authored by D. Larry Crumbley (Texas A&M University).
Abstract
White-collar crime continues to be a vexing problem for businesses, countries and individuals worldwide. Many countries including the United States have taken many steps to thwart such crime, but efforts to date have had limited success. U.S. data reviewed herein show that both prosecutions and convictions have declined markedly since 2015, but white-collar crime at the same time is increasing based upon most surveys and research. The article attempts to determine the cost of fraud in the U.S. The authors suggest that the SOX and related legislation may have been partly successful in addressing major corporate crimes, but overall white-collar crime is increasing. We believe that the estimates of the cost of crime by two major organizations may be too low because of certain intangible and tangible costs such as deterrence, detection, follow-up, and fines and penalties. If Crowe’s estimate is correct, however, the annual undetected fraud in the U.S is around $480 billion. New approaches and a collaborative effort by countries are needed to thwart this increasing white-collar crime, and more research is needed to obtain a more accurate picture of the intangible and tangible cost of white-collar crime.
