Analysis of Occupational Frauds Based on SWARA and MARCOS Method
Radojko Lukić · Revizor · 2025
Recently, occupational fraud has become more pronounced, making its research highly challenging. This study investigates occupational fraud in various industries and high-risk departments using the SWARA and MARCOS methods. The research showed that, according to the results of the SWARA-MARCOS method, the top five sectors for occupational fraud include construction, religious, charitable, or social services, government and public administration, health care, and education. Occupational fraud is most prevalent in the construction sector, while the information industry experiences the least occupational fraud. Retail also has a relatively low incidence of occupational fraud. The key question is how to suppress or minimize occupational fraud across different sectors. This can be achieved through more effective control of collections, cash theft, cash-on-hand disbursements, unauthorized check and payment tampering, corruption, expense reimbursement fraud, financial statement fraud, cashless payments, payroll fraud, registered payments, and skimming. External audits, internal audits, state audits, and forensic accounting and auditing play significant roles in fraud prevention. Additionally, the digitization of entire business operations has a positive effect on the suppression of occupational fraud. It is necessary to develop ethical values among all participants in the value chain. Regarding occupational fraud in high-risk departments, according to the results of the SWARA-MARCOS method, the highest levels of occupational fraud occur in accounting, followed by finance. Other affected departments include Executive/Senior Management, Administrative Support, Procurement, Operations, Customer Service, and Sales. Occupational fraud is least prevalent in sales. Effective control of the accounting process and financial activities can significantly reduce occupational fraud. External audit, internal audit, forensic accounting, and auditing all play significant roles in this regard. The impact of digitizing accounting and financial operations is also noteworthy. Additionally, maintaining strong ethical standards in accounting and finance is crucial.