5 most scandalous fraud cases of 2018

According to the ACFE’s 2018 Report to the Nations, the median cost of occupational fraud is $130,000 per instance, and the duration is 16 months. However, some fraud incidents are staggeringly more costly and last many years. The scale and impact of these frauds capture the attention of people around the world — even leading to massive regulatory overhauls or fraudsters becoming ingrained in pop culture.

The ACFE has found that these large, noteworthy fraud cases — like Enron or Bernie Madoff — will live on in infamy and can provide valuable lessons for fraud fighters. That’s why we, along with input from our members, have selected these five stories of 2018 as the most scandalous frauds of 2018. We chose the stories based on money lost, lives impacted and relevance to the anti-fraud profession.

1. March 2018: SEC charges Theranos Inc., and its founder and CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, with fraud