Corruption schemes—such as bribery, kickbacks, and bid rigging—are difficult to identify using standard ledger analysis because the financial exchange happens outside corporate systems. Fraud risk teams address this challenge by deploying Social Network Analysis (SNA) platforms to map and visualize relationships between internal employees and external entities. [1, 2]
[Employee System Communications] + [Vendor Bid Timelines] ---> Relation Graph Link Mapping Engine
SNA tools aggregate non-financial communication data—including corporate email traffic records, telephone logs, and calendar invitations—to build network graphs that calculate relationship weights:
| Graph Metric Variable | Applied Anti-Fraud Meaning | Fraud Risk Indication Target |
|---|---|---|
| Degree Centrality | The total number of direct communication links connected to an individual node. | Identifying procurement employees who maintain unapproved communications with a supplier group. |
| Betweenness Centrality | The frequency with which an individual node sits along the shortest path between other entities. | Identifying internal gatekeepers who control all information flow to specific external contractors. |
| Closeness Centrality | The average distance from an individual node to all other nodes within the network graph. | Spotting individuals who can pass information through the corporate footprint quickly. |