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Today’s Topics
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Transparency Barriers
Financial Fraud Overview
FORENSIC ACCOUNTING - BA124 – Spring 2015
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Barriers to Transparency
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Transparency defined
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WYSIWYG
Management bias
Measurement bias
FORENSIC ACCOUNTING - BA124 – Spring 2015
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Financial Fraud Statistics
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Key players
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COSO
The Treadway Comm.-NCFFR
SEC’s AAERs
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Treadway Commission: 1987
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Accounting & Auditing Enforcement Releases
Infrequent but costly
COSO Update: 1999
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300 AAERs 1987-1997
FORENSIC ACCOUNTING - BA124 – Spring 2015
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Drivers of 2000’s
Meltdown
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Booming economy
Moral decay
Incentives
Analysts’ expectations
Debt
Rules versus principles
Auditor independence issues
Greed
Educator failure
Failure to forecast
FORENSIC ACCOUNTING - BA124 – Spring 2015
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Financial Fraud
Motivation
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Greed
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Fear of failure
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Lack of accounting expertise
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Scope of operations—too broad
FORENSIC ACCOUNTING - BA124 – Spring 2015
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18 Key Tidbits
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Average period: 23.7 months
Revenue frauds were #1
Asset misstatement-spread around
Mean misstatement = $25 M
CEO involved in 72% of the cases
Last audit was unqualified in 55% of the cases
Mean assets = $532 M; revenues = $232 M
S/W and manufacturing involved in 12% of the cases
NASDAQ had 78%
36% filed for bankruptcy
Non-existent or uninvolved audit committees
Insiders on Boards of Directors
Family relationships were common
Financial pressures were high
56% of auditors were Big 6
Auditors named in 30% of cases
25% changed auditors after the fraud
Relatively few executives went to prison
FORENSIC ACCOUNTING - BA124 – Spring 2015
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Financial Fraud
Detection
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KTT is the key
Use the Fraud Exposure Rectangle
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Management & Directors
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Company relationships
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Background, motivation & influence
Obligations, related party transactions &
compliance
Nature of organization & industry
Financial results & operations
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GAAP, attitude
FORENSIC ACCOUNTING - BA124 – Spring 2015
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