The fraudsters’ interest lies with an employer other than a company.

The scope of occupational fraud is not limited to for-profit "companies." The defining element of occupational fraud is the abuse of one's employment for personal gain. The employer, or "victim organization," can be any entity that employs individuals, including government agencies, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and religious organizations. Therefore, a fraudster's interest and the target of their scheme can certainly be an employer other than a traditional company.

The option "False" is incorrect because it would erroneously limit the definition of occupational fraud to the commercial or corporate sector. This contradicts the foundational principles and empirical data within the fraud examination field, which clearly show that fraud is pervasive across all sectors of the economy, including public and not-for-profit entities.

1. ACFE. (2023). Fraud Examiners Manual, International Edition. Section 1.101, "Defining Occupational Fraud." The manual defines occupational fraud as "the use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employing organization’s resources or assets." The use of the broad term "organization" rather than "company" is intentional to include all types of employers.

2. ACFE. (2022). Occupational Fraud 2022: A Report to the Nations. "Victim Organization Characteristics," pp. 14–15. This official report provides a statistical breakdown of fraud cases by the type of victim organization. The 2022 report indicates that while private and public companies are the most common victims, a significant percentage of cases occur in government entities (16%) and nonprofit organizations (9%), proving that fraudsters' interests lie with a wide range of employers.

3. Kranacher, M. J., & Riley, R. (2019). Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination. Wiley. Chapter 1, "Introduction to Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination," discusses the broad applicability of fraud examination principles to various organizational types, including governmental and not-for-profit entities, reinforcing that the target of fraud is not exclusively a "company."