The Trumpian “War on Fraud” Is a Trojan Horse for Austerity
The State Financial Officers Foundation claims to be a nonpartisan, neutral body representing the guardians of state finances. In truth, the corporate donor–dependent nonprofit pushes a right-wing austerity agenda under the guise of fighting fraud.
Conservative power broker Leonard Leo has deep ties to CRC Advisors, a major funder of the ostensibly nonpartisan State Financial Officers Foundation. (Nordin Catic / Getty Images for The Cambridge Union)
As the Trump administration has slashed benefits programs like Medicaid and raided Minneapolis daycare centers in the name of a new, politicized “war on fraud,” the innocuous-sounding State Financial Officers Foundation has been cheering it on.
The organization, composed of state auditors and treasurers, wished the White House “unbridled success in that mission” and…
This category refers to crimes committed by employees or insiders against their own organizations. It is often the most damaging because the perpetrator has authorized access to systems.
- Asset Misappropriation: The most common form, involving the theft of company resources. This ranges from simple “skimming” (taking cash before it’s recorded) to complex schemes involving the theft of inventory or intellectual property.
- Payroll Fraud: Employees may create “ghost employees” on the system, falsify their own timesheets to claim unworked overtime, or divert salary payments to their own accounts.
- Financial Statement Fraud: Management deliberately misrepresents the company’s financial health by inflating revenue or hiding liabilities to attract investors or meet performance bonuses.