Contemporary Issues in Audit Management and Forensic Accounting: Volume 102

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between personality traits and students’ cheating behavior using the five-factor personality model and the fraud triangle factors. This chapter develops an evidential study that has the goal to determine the relationship between the students’ cheating behavior and personality traits by using fraud triangle factors. In this context, 251 surveys have been conducted on students of a foundation university located in Istanbul. As means of data collection, NEO – Five Factor Inventory and Academic Fraud Risk Factors have been used. Data have been analyzed by regression tree analysis. Risk and classification tables have been created before starting the study with a decision tree in which classification and regression trees algorithms were implemented. The results reveal that rationalization behind the cheating is the most important reason for students to copy and people who believed that they were extremely appropriate to copy were responsible ones when analyzed in terms of their personality traits. The results of this study contribute to the literature by discovering the characteristics of those who admit academic dishonesty and underlie the factors or predispositions for engaging in this behavior. For sure, three factors of the fraud triangle may have different levels of significance in this study; in addition, pressure is not associated with the cheating behavior.

Professionals who carry out the forensic accounting profession must have an extensive knowledge of accounting, as well as an effective knowledge of law, auditing, internal audit, business management, psychology, crime science, and, in particular, computer technologies. In today’s digital business environment, it has become difficult to identify fraudulent transactions with traditional methods. Developments in information (data) and information technology have helped increase anti-fraud control programs and fraud research opportunities. In particular, fraudulent financial reporting disrupts the reliability, accuracy, and efficiency of financial markets in terms of existence and continuity. The forensic accounting profession has been able to improve the effectiveness of inspections by using big data techniques, data analytics, and algorithms (Rezaee, Lo, Ha, & Suen, 2016; Seda & Kramer, 2014; Singleton & Singleton, 2010).

The aim of the author, in this chapter, is to evaluate the contribution of using big data techniques in forensic accounting applications and the skills that will be provided to students while integrating these techniques in forensic accounting trainings. For this purpose, studies on forensic accounting education and their applications were reviewed. In addition, opinions were evaluated by considering the relevant literature about the importance of big data, benefits of big data, use of big data techniques, and interest shown of them.

Accounting and audit scandals, economic disputes, and the use of non-fraudulent financial statements during early 2000s have led to the emergence of the profession “Forensic Accounting” in many countries and its day-by-day increasing importance. At the present time, it is seen that since the acceptance of the fact that this profession is a quite important need, the education of forensic accounting is provided in undergraduate and graduate programs in the USA and Europe as a separate field of study. By this way, the aim of our study is to determine the perceptions and awareness, of the members of the profession and the accounting department students who have the potential to make this profession in the future, about the importance of the forensic accounting education and practices. In our research, we conducted a survey study with the members of the profession and the students of accounting department on the topic of forensic accounting education. The results show that the demand and interest in the forensic accounting profession will increase in the future. At this point, accountants and students emphasize that it would be very important for educational institutions to support students about professional career opportunities for forensic accounting. The results also show that there are some important differences of opinion among students and accountants about the current scope of forensic accounting.

Financial manipulation means the modification made knowingly and willfully by businesses in accounting records and transactions, in financial statements, through addition and subtraction, for the purpose of misleading financial information users. Financial manipulations are expected to have an effect on the decisions of financial information users. The present study was established on the basis of two main objectives. The first objective is to determine whether banks, which are Public Interest Entities (PIE), manipulate their financial statements. As for the second objective, it is to reveal whether the detected financial manipulations have an effect on investor decisions. The research conducted to achieve the first objective is based on the examination of independent audit reports for the periods between 2009 and 2017, pertaining to 45 banks registered to the Banks Association of Turkey, in terms of presented opinions. Data acquired from examined reports were subjected to content analysis via the Microsoft Excel program. In line with the second objective of the study, investor numbers for the periods between 2010 and 2017, of 13 banks, which are within the scope of BIST BANK, were included in the analysis, according to data acquired from the Central Registry Agency. Financial statements of banks, with audit reports in which a qualified opinion is expressed, were considered to have been manipulated. SPSS 22.0 statistics pack software was used to analyze whether investment demands toward these banks had an effect on decisions of domestic and foreign investors. In the analysis, frequency and One-Way ANOVA tests were used. In consequence of the analyses conducted, it was determined that, around one fifth of financial statements of PIE banks, pertaining to the periods between 2009 and 2017, were manipulated; it was mostly committed by private banks, and majority of the manipulations were committed due to free provisions made. It was also observed that manipulations did not have an effect on decisions of neither domestic nor foreign investors. The reason behind the latter is the fact that while the level of manipulations in financial statements is significant, it is not a widespread occurrence.

The profession of judicial advisory is a profession with a larger scope, which creates solutions for legal problems by harmoniously blending principles, theories, and standards that relate to many areas of expertise such as accounting, auditing, and law. The legists need expert information on the matters of accounting, finance, and taxation regarding the files that they handle. In such cases, experts who perform the profession of judicial advisory provide their consultancy services to the legists before and during the cases.

The purpose of this study is to create awareness regarding the profession of judicial advisory and put forward the prospects of this profession in Turkey. The study includes four provinces located in the Eastern Black Sea Region (Trabzon, Rize, Ordu, and Giresun). There are a total of 1,339 lawyers who are registered to the bar associations of the indicated provinces; out of them, 600 lawyers have been communicated, but a questionnaire was conducted on 354 lawyers by employing face-to-face interviews. The data obtained from the questionnaires have been subjected to difference in means (unpaired t-test) and descriptive statistical analyses by using the statistical packet software of SPSS 10.0.

In the consequence of the conducted analyses, it has been determined that the lawyers thought that the members of the profession of accounting working as experts were inadequate. In the event of establishing judicial advisory institution besides the institution of expertise, it is believed that a more beneficial system would be created. It is seen that this thought has not changed among the lawyers in terms of different characteristics except level of education. Additionally, it has been determined that the level of awareness of the lawyers regarding the profession of judicial advisory was insufficient.

Insurance frauds deeply affect insurance companies, policyholders, and the insurance industry as a whole. The cost of fraudulent damage affects the profitability of companies, and has negative effects on the society in terms of moral values. Increases in insurance costs can lead to increases in the premiums paid by policyholders, each family, and, ultimately, all of the insured. Recently, new legal regulations related to this issue have been performed in Turkey and higher institutions have been created. A regulation issued by the Under-secretariat of the Treasury, on June 1, 2011, defines insurance fraud as aggravated fraud. Insurance fraud in Turkey usually takes the form of intentional misrepresentations of facts to the insurance company to get the company to pay for something not actually covered by the policy. Studies examined the insurance industry in terms of the concept of financial crime, and inclusion of the concept of financial crime in insurance regulations was proposed since financial crimes have an important place in the current problems of the industry. In addition, it is seen that insurance frauds have changed over time as a result of studies.

In recent years, there has been considerable interest in corporate governance literature as a result of massive corporate scandals. In today’s world, almost all companies are exposed to the danger of fraud. Much work on the business risk of corporate fraud has been carried out; however, researchers still have tough discussions on the most effective methods to adopt to tackle fraud. In accordance with previous studies, it is possible to say that companies which obey the corporate governance codes to the letter can minimize the risk of fraud. The importance of this chapter lies in that it helps to explain the evidence that although the deterrent measures company can undertake may well, to a certain extent, work out the problem of fraud, they are way far from eliminating corporate crimes in establishing “corporate governance.” The latter is the key term that defines the public responsibility of corporates binding themselves to the rule of law. Corporate governance has been discussed as one of the effective ways of calling the attention of large firms to social problems and urging them to take necessary actions. The reason that companies cannot eliminate fraud is strictly linked to the evidences of critical organization studies that question the epistemic assumptions of mainstream strand of the same field. Some studies show that the subject is not rational decision-making, neither does it follow the interest, nor is it a pure homo economicus so that rationality is effective in deterring corporate frauds to a certain extent.

Although most of the traditional economic theories used to explain investor behaviour assume full investor rationality, experience proves otherwise. In this study, we examine a number of important determinants of risk appetite and tolerance, including gender, education and knowledge of financial services and loss aversion. We do this by designing a questionnaire to measure the level of risk appetite and tolerance, together with various demographic characteristics and loss aversion. The survey is administered among a random sample of 1,648 respondents from Turkey. We find that on average men exhibit a higher level of risk appetite and tolerance than women, thus suggesting a clear gender divide in terms of investment behaviour. Furthermore, knowledge of financial services is associated with higher levels of both risk appetite and tolerance, with younger respondents also exhibiting similar patterns of behaviour. By contrast, loss-averse respondents are less open and tolerant of risk, which indicates that behavioural biases such as loss aversion can have a meaningful impact on investment decisions, at odds with traditional models based on rational choice theory. The findings have a number of important implications for investment behaviour and education, including the importance of gender balance within investment committees in order to ensure a more even distribution of risk behaviour, as well as the need to incorporate considerations related to loss aversion in all aspects of policymaking and regulation.

Accounting-based financial scandals caused by fraudulent financial reports negatively affect the financial markets and cause loss of confidence in investors. Financial reporting quality needs to be improved in order to build and maintain trust in financial markets. To increase the quality of financial reports, fraudulent financial reporting risks should be defined. At this point, regulators, practitioners, and researchers are in constant search.

There are improved approaches to the detection of financial reporting frauds in the literature. Many studies have been conducted on the “Fraud Triangle Theory” and the “Fraud Diamond Theory” approaches. The Fraud Triangle Theory argues that while fraudulent action is taking place in defining the elements of press, rationalization, and opportunity, the Fraud Diamond Theory approach argues that in order to achieve these three elements, the capability to carry out a fraud in individuals must be improved.

In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effect of Fraud Diamond elements on fraudulent financial reports. For the scope of the research, data of 26 companies from Manufacturing Industry enterprises operating in BORSA ISTANBUL between 2013 and 2017 were used. Financial reports of the companies are divided into two groups: (1) Fraudulent Financial Reports and (2) Non-Fraud Financial Reports. The hypotheses developed within the scope of the research were tested using the Logistic Regression analysis in IBM SPSS Statistic 20 program.

As a result of the study, it has been determined that there is a negative correlation between borrowing level, asset profitability, independent audit firm, auditor exchanges and institutionalization level, and fraudulent financial reports. It was understood that the change in assets and the size of the audit committee did not have any effect on the fraudulent financial reports.

The change of production methods, the industrial revolutions, technological developments, and digital transformation have affected almost all functions in the enterprises. Accounting and auditing areas are also quite affected by this transformation. Another important result of technology and digitalization is the rapid increase in errors, frauds, and irregularities. Enterprises are looking for new solutions and investigations against irregularities and frauds. Audits for errors, frauds, or irregularities are among the interests of forensic accounting. Many methods are used to identify errors and frauds in the forensic accounting. However, it is inevitable that digital technologies should be utilized in forensic accounting applications as a result of the rapid spread of automation and computer programs in enterprises within the framework of digitalized business activities. Hence, enterprises will be able to get more effective results through computer programs and artificial intelligence in terms of fraud audit in forensic accounting. Expert system applications use artificial intelligence to enable computer programs to behave just like people. One of the most widely used, most easily applicable, and most understandable types of expert system is rule-based expert system. The aim of this study is to determine the accounting fraud that may occur in enterprises within the framework of forensic accounting through rule-based expert systems. For this purpose, various applications have been implemented in a large-scale production enterprise through the use of rule-based expert systems for the determination of accounting fraud. Benford’s Law, risk levels, and various other criteria were used in the creation of expert systems. According to the results obtained from the study, it has been seen that by means of rule-based expert system applications, enterprises can better detect existing frauds and prevent further irregularities in the future. The study is important and it is expected that the study will contribute to the literature because it is shown in the study that the rule-based expert systems, applied in many fields under the title of social sciences, can also be applied in the field of forensic accounting and auditing.

The purpose of the financial statements is to present the situations of the enterprises, such as the financial situation, results of operations, etc., in the decision-making processes to the related parties in a suitable, comparable, and realistic manner. In recent years, professional frauds in enterprises have been seriously reflected in financial statements and this has resulted in the manipulation of financial information.

In this study, we aim to determine financial firms, which might manipulate the financial information, by applying the Beneish model and then determine the financial indicators of possible financial statement manipulation, using logistic regression. For this purpose, companies included constantly in Borsa İstanbul-50 (BIST-50) 2015, 2016, and 2017 were examined. After the enterprises which have the possibility of financial manipulation are determined by the Beneish model, it is understood that there is a positive relationship between the probability of manipulating financial information and the Asset Quality Index and Sales, general and administrative expenses index.

The confidence in the qualifications and independence of the audit activities and professionals has been lost due to the financial scandals that have arisen over time. These scandals in the accounting and auditing fields caused both enterprises and investors to suffer from large amounts of losses and thus the need for reliable financial statements and corporate governance increased.

Both investors and decision-makers need independent assurance to achieve transparent, reliable, and impartial financial information. The fulfillment of this requirement is possible through independent auditing activity and independent audit firms. Business management shall carry out the selection of independent auditors based on various criteria (fee, reputation, audit team, relations, etc.). In addition, it may also be necessary to periodically change an independent audit firm due to rotation or other reasons (fee, disputes, relationships, etc.).

In this study, a ranking of the importance level of the evaluation criteria, for the selection and change of the independent audit firm in an enterprise in Borsa İstanbul (BIST) 100 in Turkey, was conducted. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is one of the multicriteria decision-making techniques, was used for ranking. In the hierarchy established for the selection of the independent audit firm, the main criteria of the “audit fee” and the “reputation and qualifications of the audit firm” have been established. According to the findings obtained as a result of binary comparisons, the first four ranks among sub-criteria are “provision of international service,” “quality of technical expertise of audit firm,” “industry expertise of audit firm,” and “suitability of fee offered by audit firm.”

For the change of audit firm, four main criteria “audit fee,” “disputes arising during the audit process,” “relations with the audit firm,” and “rotation” are taken into consideration. For sub-criteria, first four criteria were “rotation of independent audit firm,” “rotation of independent auditor,” “audit firm’s inability to adequately practice proactive audit approaches,” and “inadequate communication.”

Together with the globalization, the markets throughout the world entered into an intense competition and it led the companies in capital markets into a panic. During the competition for being at the top, the companies may sometimes have recourse to various frauds, corruption, or manipulations. The advancing technology is the most useful instrument of companies for this purpose. Countering these frauds and corruptions, which are gradually becoming more complex, is the profession of “auditing” which entered into an institutionalization and professionalization process. One of the most important milestones in this process is the emergence of the forensic accounting profession. The forensic accounting services, especially in the USA and Canada, provide courts and lawyers with support by making use of accounting, auditing, and analytical investigations on legal issues involving financial disputes. The forensic accountants offer service to relevant persons and institutions in order to determine the frauds made by the companies and support the lawsuits.

The objective of the present study is to provide information about the forensic accounting profession and its development in the world, as well as contributing to the development and recognition of forensic accounting practices.

Along with accounting scandals in the past, academics, researchers, and legislators have focused on fraud. The purpose of this study is to examine postgraduate and doctoral studies, articles, and books about forensic accounting and fraud audit published between the years 2008 and 2018 in Turkey. For this purpose, a total of 96 studies have been examined and 35 of these are master’s theses, 10 of them are PhD theses, 45 of them are articles, and six of them are books. These studies were presented in tables as classified. The studies examined in our research are summarized as year they were published, the author, and the scope of the topic and in terms of results. The conclusions of this study can be summarized as follows: (a) the majority of thesis published about forensic accounting and fraud audit are in 2011 and following years. In addition, most of the theses are focused on forensic accounting review rather than fraud audit. (b) Results in the articles reviewed are in the same direction with theses. (c) There are very few books about fraud audit and forensic accounting. One of them is related to fraud audit, while the rest of them are related to forensic accounting and forensic accounting profession. We suggest extending the scope of the study and making to other countries.

Due to the developments in information technologies, new concepts and practices have emerged in the field of accounting and auditing. One of these concepts is the concept of Forensic Accounting. Forensic accounting acts as a bridge between law and accounting sciences. Academic strutting about forensic accounting carried out in Turkey is increasing every day. In this study, we aim to examine the views of Turkish accounting academicians about skills of forensic accountant. Within this scope, we investigate whether there is any difference in views of Turkish accounting academicians by their gender, title, age, experience and university department (faculty, vocational school, etc.). Survey was sent to 543 Turkish accounting academicians via e-mail. 80 responses were used as data. Data analysis was made in SPSS Statistics 17.0. Means, standard deviations and percentages were computed for items related to skills of forensic accountant. Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to analyse whether there was any difference in views of Turkish accounting academicians by their gender, title, age, experience and university department. According to findings, the skills rated as most important by Turkish academicians are, respectively, deductive analysis, critical thinking and unstructured problem solving. The skills rated as least important by Turkish academicians are, respectively, oral communication, investigative flexibility and analytical proficiency. There is a significant difference in rating of the importance of critical thinking, investigative flexibility, analytical proficiency and written communication by gender and there is a significant difference in rating of the importance of deductive analysis, unstructured problem solving and composure by experience year as academician.

Financial crimes involve several offenses without violence with some people obtaining financial benefit and causing financial loss to some others. The globalization of financial systems, the growing volume of trading transactions, and the acceleration of information technologies have brought many conveniences to the financial world; but unfortunately, financial crime has spread and diversified. Therefore, the fight against financial crimes, which are often complex and organized in a way which is nonviolent but causes significant financial damage to people and organizations, is gaining importance. In this sense, the struggle against this type of crime, which has become a serious threat, must be resolved by applying a comprehensive policy that should include all segments of the society.

In this chapter, we aim to give a general framework of financial crimes and carry out a literature review on the subject. Moreover, we outline the different types of financial crime (such as money laundering, insider dealing, fraud, market abuse, bribery, corruption, terrorist financing, white collar crimes, tax evasion, embezzlement, forgery, counterfeiting, identity theft, etc.) and their impact. As a result, this study has the purpose of providing awareness by drawing attention to the concept of financial crime, which is an important threat nowadays that an ordinary person may suffer at any time in daily life.

The main objective of this chapter is to evaluate whether social auditing is applicable to Maltese co-operatives and, if so, to lay out the possible characteristics of such an exercise. The chapter adopts a mixed research methodology with semi-structured interviews being conducted with 14 local experts, and a questionnaire being addressed to 11 Maltese co-operative managers. The findings indicate that the Maltese co-operative identity is as yet emergent and that, consequently, if a social audit is introduced now, controversies would easily arise on the audit’s frequency, publication, scope and composition of the audit team. Nonetheless, a social audit may ultimately be modelled on the Beechwood process and on the reporting indicators of the Euro Co-op Social Reporting Working Party. It would involve the examination of both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of a co-operative, concluding with recommendations for improvement. Furthermore, the exercise would need to be monitored by the Maltese regulator, the Co-operatives Board, and best be conducted regularly, say, every 3 years, by an inter-disciplinary audit team. Therefore, the chapter concludes that the introduction of such a regulatory exercise as part of the Maltese co-operative framework would ultimately be beneficial, ameliorating the co-operative movement. Yet, it is strongly recommended that, prior to its introduction, Maltese co-operatives work further on developing their fundamentals.

This study challenges the conventional theoretical approach of the ‘Three Lines of Defence’ Model adopted by most of the Maltese credit institutions. The authors propose a paradigm shifting conceptualised framework that would alter the corporate governance structures of banks. The objective is to test the feasibility and willingness of credit institutions to adopt such an approach.

This study challenges the current practices of the internal auditing profession and organisations and invites them to evaluate their structures whilst recognising the benefits of adopting a combined assurance function.

In order to test this hypothesis, the authors sought out semi-structured interviews with controllers (Internal Auditors, Risk Managers and Compliance Officers) within Maltese Credit Institutions, varying in size from significant, medium-sized and small institutions; personal from the Malta Financial Services Authority – The regulator, the Big four audit firms and members of the Malta Forum of Internal Auditors, and practitioners working both within and outside the financial industry.

There were two contrasting opinions regarding the suggested proposition. On the one hand, those operating within the credit institutions, as well as the regulator and the external auditors, do not believe that the proposition of integrating risk, compliance and internal audit functions (IAF) in one team would be possible; the reason being that independence, which is the cornerstone of every IAF, would be severely impacted. On the other hand, there were those practitioners working outside the banking industry but with sufficient experience and knowledge in the field, who challenged the traditional concept of independence. They argue that the functions should not be separate from each other because they have much in common.

Four themes emerged from the study: (1) challenges as a concept, (2) benefits, (3) risks and (4) condition for successful implementation. All interviewees, from risk departments, boards, external auditors and regulators agree that a strong, knowledgeable and independent IAF is fundamental to every organisation but more so within the financial industry. Nevertheless, this study revealed two schools of thought that emerged from the findings in relation to the IAF and its regulation, and specifically, when the authors presented the proposition of an integrated function.