Financial fraud events place intense psychological and physiological pressure on managerial decision-makers. Perceived control—defined as an individual’s belief in their ability to influence outcomes—plays a key role in modulating stress responses. This experimental study examined whether managers with high perceived control demonstrate lower physiological stress responses compared to those with low perceived control during a simulated financial fraud scenario. Using a laboratory-based mixed-design experiment (N = 60), participants were assigned to high-control or low-control managerial roles and exposed to both a neutral scenario and a fraud-crisis scenario. Stress responses were measured using galvanic skin response (GSR) and pulse-derived heart rate changes from baseline. Synthetic data modelled after real psychophysiological patterns were analysed using repeated-measures ANOVA and delta-based t-tests. Results showed significantly greater increases in GSR and heart rate during the fraud scenario for the low-control group compared with the high-control group. Within-group analyses confirmed that both groups exhibited elevated physiological arousal during fraud relative to neutral tasks, but the magnitude of change was consistently higher in low-control participants. These findings suggest that perceived control acts as a protective factor, attenuating physiological stress during high-stakes financial decision-making. Implications for leadership selection, crisis management protocols, and stress-mitigation training are discussed. Beyond immediate stress reactivity, the study also highlights the potential cognitive implications of autonomic arousal during fraud-related decision-making. Elevated GSR and heart rate responses in low-control managers may reflect heightened emotional load, reduced cognitive flexibility, and impaired working memory—factors known to compromise decision quality under uncertainty. Conversely, individuals in high-control positions appeared to maintain more stable physiological profiles, suggesting the presence of regulatory mechanisms that may support clearer judgment, faster threat appraisal, and more adaptive responses during organizational crises. The methodological contribution of this study lies in the integration of GSR and pulse-based heart rate monitoring within a realistic financial fraud simulation, demonstrating the feasibility of combining psychophysiological tools with organizational-behaviour paradigms. Although the dataset employed was synthetic and modelled after established physiological patterns, the experimental framework provides a robust foundation for future empirical studies involving real participants. This approach offers valuable insights into how perceived managerial control can influence biological stress pathways, ultimately shaping crisis-management performance in high-risk financial environments.