Also attempting to clarify the focus of research, Holtfreter (2005) suggests that fraud and
criminology researchers often confuse or intermingle white-collar crime committed by the
individual (occupational fraud or employee theft) and crime committed by the organization
(corporate crime). In her study, one of Holtfreter’s key findings is that corporate victims of
corruption tended to be large, often publicly traded, companies while corporate victims of asset
misappropriation and financial reporting fraud tended to be smaller, private organizations.
Accounting firms could use such characteristics to develop profiles of potential offenders and
corporations likely to be victimized by fraud. This focus could improve the overall effectiveness of
the fraud detection process