The red flags of financial statement fraud: a case study
| Date | 07 July 2023 |
| Pages | 311-321 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-02-2023-0028 |
| Published date | 07 July 2023 |
| Author | Elda du Toit |
The red flags of financial
statement fraud: a case study
Elda du Toit
Department of Financial Management, University of P retoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose –According to the Associationof Certified Fraud Examiners, financial statement fraud represents
the smallest amount of fraud cases but results in the greatest monetary loss. The researcher previously
investigated the characteristics of financial statement fraud and determined the presence of 16 fraud
indicators. The purposeof this study is to establish whether investors and other stakeholderscan detect and
identifyfinancial statement fraud using these characteristicsin an analysis of a company’s annual report.
Design/methodology/approach –This study analysesa financial statement fraud case, using the same
techniques thatwere previously applied, including horizontal,vertical and ratio analysis. These arepreferred
because stakeholdershave relatively easy access to them.
Findings –The findings show several fraud characteristics, with a few additional ones not previously
found prevalent. Financialstatement fraud thus tends to differ between cases. It is also easier to detectand
identifyfraud indicators ex post facto.
Originality/value –This study is a practical case showing that financialstatement fraud can be detected
and identifiedin the financial statements of companies that commit fraud.
Keywords Financial statement fraud, Management fraud, Red flags, Fraud indicators,
Fraud characteristics
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
The losses from financial statement fraud do not only lie with the company but also with
investors who lose share value and employees who lose jobs. A recent financial statement
fraud case happened in a companywith a primary listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange,
Germany, and a secondary listing on the JohannesburgStock Exchange (JSE), South Africa.
Apart from regular investors,third-party investors in the form of Government Pension Fund
contributors collectivelylost millions. However, there is speculation that the irregularities in
the company’sfinancial statementswere easy to recognise and that those losses could have
been prevented if non-financial personnel and laypeople investors understood the basics of
financial statements[1].
Even though financial statement fraud represented the smallest amount of fraud cases
(10% from a sample of 2,690 occupational fraud cases investigated worldwide between
January 2016 and October 2017), it resulted in the greatestaggregate loss of US$800,000 per
case, compared to US&250,000 and US$114,000 per case for corruption and asset
misappropriation, respectively (ACFE, 2018). This 10% represents only the cases where
© Elda du Toit. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and
create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to
full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at
http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
Financial
statement
fraud
311
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.31 No. 2, 2024
pp. 311-321
EmeraldPublishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-02-2023-0028
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1359-0790.htm
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