Investigator and Fraud Fighter Guidebook: Operation War Stories

Chapter 5

Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Systemic Weaknesses

“QUESTION: What do you call someone who is willing to pay $800 for a toilet seat?ANSWER: General.”

—1980s political joke

While serving as a federal agent, my case assignments included but were not limited to investigating fraud, waste, and abuse affecting the organization for which I was employed. My responsibilities also included simultaneously attempting to identify any systemic weaknesses that may have caused or contributed to the fraud, waste, or abuse.

Fraud

Many sources define the term “fraud.”

Dictionary.com defines fraud as:

1. deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage.
2. a particular instance of such deceit or trickery: mail fraud; election frauds.
3. any deception, trickery, or humbug: That diet book is a fraud and a waste of time.
4. a person who makes deceitful pretenses; sham; poseur.

Thefreedictionary.com defines fraud as:

1. A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.
2. A piece of trickery; a trick.

merriam-webster.com defines fraud as:

1. deceit, trickery; specifically: intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right
2. an act of deceiving or misrepresenting

Black's Law Dictionary defines fraud as:

A knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment.

The Association ...