ABSTRACT
Fraud has traditionally been understood as something that criminal individuals commit. As the Australian philosopher Raimond Gaita said: 'There are some things it is evil even to believe, and that good and evil be an illusion is one of them'. Fraud and corruption, like many forms of deception, evoke deep moral sentiments in us, such as repulsion, anger and a desire for revenge. Fraud always means that someone has been deceived, and that someone has suffered an unjust disadvantage. The correlation between poverty and corruption is generally accepted and often demonstrated. The costs of corruption are borne by the poor and powerless, while the benefits are enjoyed by the rich and powerful. Research by the American Professor of Government Eric Uslaner shows that there is an even stronger statistical correlation between level of corruption in a country and the distribution of wealth in that country: the higher the level of equality, the lower the level of corruption, and cynicism.
