Most community association boards think of fraud - if they think about it at all -- as something that happens to other communities, but not to theirs.

In fact, reports of fraud-related losses affecting New England condominiums have been rare.  It's certainly been a long time since we've seen anything close to the recent New York case, in which a manager systematically stole $1.3 million from six cooperatives by pocketing the funds allocated for their property taxes, then negotiating installment payment agreements that he never mentioned to the cooperative boards and never fulfilled.

The Association of Certified Fraud examiners estimated in a 1996 report that fraud and other forms of financial abuse cost organizations of all kinds more than $400 billion annually.  Clearly, the problem is immense, and while community associations may not be the primary victims, they are by no means immune to the risk.