Motive
At the instigation of a fraud there is usually a financial need of the perpetrator. This need may be objective (i.e. an emergency situation) or subjective (i.e. prestige).
Rationalization
The majority of the perpetrators of economic crime do not view themselves as criminals, but rather as people, who find themselves, due to no fault of their own, in an unfortunate situation. In order to protect themselves from getting a guilty conscience, they develop a justification for their crime, i.e this might be “I have just borrowed the money and I will pay it back later” or “I am the person with the highest profit margin and I am therefore entitled to the money”.
Opportunity
The perpetrator must have the opportunity to get access to the assets of the company. Often he abuses the trust bestowed in him by the company. Opportunities can be minimized by the implementation of an effective Internal Control System.