Corporate Fraud and Internal Control Workbook: A Framework for Prevention

Chapter Two

Elements of the Crimes of Theft and Fraud

OVER THE YEARS, many different legal definitions of fraud have been promulgated, including fraud as a criminal act, fraud as a tort for civil action, and fraud as defined by professional organizations in an attempt to give their members evaluation criteria to judge the sufficiency of evidence gathered. All of these definitions agree in general that in order to be defined as fraud, certain criteria must be met.

QUESTIONS: FILL IN THE BLANKS

Refer to Chapter 2 in Corporate Fraud and Internal Control: A Framework for Prevention.

1. Common law, also known as ___________ law, originated in the United Kingdom during the reign of Henry II (1133–1189) and is based on the concept that the decision previously made sets a precedent and should be followed in subsequent cases.

2. The common law offense of ___________ is one of the most prevalent offenses committed in today's society.

3. Some estimates indicate that the average dishonest manager will be in a position to steal ___________ times that of an average hourly worker.

4. In order to be classified as theft, normally there would have been a contrectatio, whereby the perpetrator must have actually ___________ the object stolen, normally to remove it from the lawful possession of the owner.

5. The act of appropriation itself has two elements wherein the thief ___________ the lawful ...