A New Approach to Combating White-collar Crime
             Due to the magnitude of white-collar crime in this country (R3,6 billion losses annually) and globally, companies can no longer ignore this growing problem. Apart from the huge financial implications, white-collar crime also has other detrimental effects on companies including loss of reputation, the undermining of competitiveness and the erosion of credibility.
             Traditionally, companies followed an ex post facto approach to fraud - damage control was attempted only after the fraud had occurred. However, such an approach has numerous disadvantages of which one is the cost element: Huge losses may have been incurred which may be impossible to recover. Forensic investigations may be necessary requiring experts who charge high rates, implying further costs to the company.
             It is proposed that organisations should concentrate on the prevention of white-collar crime in the first instance, rather than discovering that fraud has occurred ex post facto. The advantages of a pro-active approach to crime are numerous and include the following:
             •It ensures containment of fraud in an organisation.
             •It preserves the good reputation of the organisation.
             •Investor confidence may be boosted.
             •It maintains a healthy morale in the workplace.
             •It deters future criminals from attempting fraudulent activities.
             PRINCIPLES OF PREVENTATIVE FRAUD CONTROLS
             The following are some principles that should be applied in controlling fraud in a
             1. Early awareness creation which includes the training of Directors, CEOs, Managers of companies and other senior staff in the nature of white-collar crimes.
             2. The establishment of a fraud prevention plan in an organisation.
             · This includes the development of codes of conduct.
             · Identifying the commercial crime risks in the organisation.
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