Under the umbrella of moral disengagement: The role of antifraud experts in internal fraud management

Antifraud experts managing internal fraud must protect the reputation of organizations while limiting the financial impacts associated with fraud. They are also expected to counter the limitations of the police and judicial systems in the fight against fraud. Nevertheless, they play a preponderant role in what increasingly appears to be the construction of a parallel police and legal system that limits the social recognition of fraudsters by avoiding, as much as possible, reporting them to the police. How have these antifraud experts, having been trained to fight fraud and reduce its social prevalence, come to accept working in a private justice system whose main function is to protect organizations from reputational threats? Bandura’s theory of moral disengagement allows us to highlight some explanations for the actions of antifraud experts, thereby permitting us to better understand ethical issues associated with this occupation, as well as highlighting relevant new research avenues.