CFFE Module II
Law Related to Fraud cheat sheet
Every chapter's key points, formulas and definitions on one page, for the last week before the exam. Each heading links to the chapter that explains it.
Introduction to fraud
- Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain; in Kenyan law it means conduct within ACECA's list of specific offences, together with bribery under the Bribery Act, 2016.
- Fraud is intentional deception that causes loss to a victim or gain to the perpetrator; Kenya has no single fraud statute, so a scheme is charged under whichever specific offence it fits, such as theft, obtaining by false pretences or forgery under the Penal Code.
- White collar crime is the umbrella: non-violent crime for financial gain by a person in a position of trust, with corruption and fraud as its two most examined species.
- The reliable test for corruption rather than fraud is the abuse of entrusted power; every corruption case is loosely a fraud on the public or the principal, but not every fraud is corruption.
- Fraud is hard to prosecute because it is deliberately concealed, crosses borders and must be proved beyond reasonable doubt, by agencies facing limited resources, case backlogs and at times political interference.
Key terms
- Corruption (legal sense)
- The abuse of entrusted power for private gain; ACECA does not define 'corruption' with a single sentence but by reference to a list of specific offences (the chapter on statutes sets out sections 40 to 47A), so that in Kenyan law 'corruption' is, precisely, any conduct falling within that defined list, together with bribery under the Bribery Act, 2016.
- Fraud (legal sense)
- Intentional deception resulting in loss to a victim or gain to the perpetrator; unlike corruption, fraud in the general sense has no single defining statute in Kenya and is instead prosecuted under whichever specific offence the scheme fits, theft, obtaining by false pretences or forgery under the Penal Code, or a sector-specific offence (tax, securities, procurement) depending on where it occurred.
- White collar crime
- Non-violent crime committed for financial gain, typically by a person in a position of trust, professional standing or organisational authority; the umbrella term under which corruption and fraud sit as the two most heavily examined species in this diploma, alongside money laundering, tax evasion and securities fraud.
The rest of the sheet covers
- Misrepresentation, corruption, forgery and theft
- Breach of duty, conspiracy and false claims
- Corruption offences
- Economic crime offences
- Computer misuse and cybercrime offences
- Anti-corruption courts
- International initiatives against corruption
- Exam technique and revision
- Glossary