ABSTRACT
Many parties have pointed to the difficulty of preventing collusive fraud, as well as the large losses caused by collusion. However, relatively little is known about how collusive fraud differs from solo-offender fraud. To begin to fill this gap in the literature, this exploratory study examines differences between collusive fraud and solo-offender fraud, focusing on characteristics of the leader (perpetrator), incident, and organization. We use survey data collected by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) on worldwide fraud cases from 2002 to 2013. The results highlight a number of unique dimensions of collusive fraud, including that collusive fraud leaders are more likely to be younger males with close ties to customers or vendors and a wheeler-dealer attitude. We discuss future research directions and implications for practice.