On Tuesday of last week, Lori Richards, Director of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, spoke at the Southwest Securities Enforcement Conference. Her remarks were on the subject of "Why Does Fraud Occur and What Can Deter or Prevent It?."

Richards stated that she had seen distinct types of fraud in her tenure at the SEC, which she broke down as follows:

The "Grifter" — Fraud committed with intent from the outset, where the person sets out to steal money. These are frauds that are planned in advance, and where the person committing it is acting intentionally to defraud. A "committed fraudster," as she put it.

The "Borrower" — Fraud committed by those who believe that they are merely "borrowing" money, and intend to pay it back. They may do it to cover a shortfall in the firm's revenues or to conceal less-than-expected performance results.

The "Opportunist" — Fraud committed by people who find themselves in a position to benefit, even though they did not seek out the opportunity to engage in fraud. This is the "open cash drawer" scenario, such as in insider trading cases when people come into possession of valuable information.

The "Crowd Follower" — Fraud committed by people who believe that they're just going with the flow, acting in a way that is consistent with industry practice. These are people who may acknowledge when pressed that their actions were illegal or unethical but will say, in their defense, that "everyone is doing it."

The "Minimizer" — Fraud committed by people who know what they're doing is illegal or unethical, but who justify their actions by minimizing the impact.

Richards' speech is good stuff and pretty accurate in my opinion. But I say if you are going with the movie theme then you need to stick with the movie theme, so beyond The Grifters movie that Richards has spotted us, here are my renamed versions of her categories:

»The "Borrower" — The "Robin Hood" - OK, I'm struggling with this one but let's go with Robin Hood. Yes, I know Robin Hood wasn't going to give the money back to the source it came from but he was going to give it back to someone! Let's just move on quickly before this whole post falls part.

»The "Opportunist The "Wall Street/Bud Fox"

Hmmmm. Insider trading cases... opportunists..."Blue Horseshoe loves Anacot Steel." 'Nuff said.

»The "Crowd Follower" The "Glenngary Glen Ross"

Let's see. Fraud consistent with industry practice, everyone is doing it..."Put that coffee down! Coffee is for closers!"

»The "Minimizer" The "Office Space"

Alright — know it is wrong but rationalize that the fraud's impact is so minimal ...

JOANNASo you're stealing.PETERAh, no. No. You don't understand. It's, uh, very complicated. It's, uh,it's, it's aggregate so I'm talking about fractions of a cent that, uh,over time, they add up to a lot.JOANNAOk. So you're gonna make a lot of money, right?PETERYeah.