Pathways to accountant fraud: Australian evidence and analysis

Paul Andon · Clinton Wallace Free · Benjamin Scard

48 citations0/0 files storedAccounting Research Journal

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Accounting and Financial Management Auditing, Earnings Management, Governance Financial Literacy and Behavior

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore pathways to fraud perpetrated in accounting-related roles, focusing both on situationally driven attitudes and contextual elements. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on an anomie-based criminological taxonomy developed by Waringet al.(1995) and Weisburd and Waring (2001), which highlights individual attitudes and situational elements and their connection to illegitimate behaviour, the authors perform a qualitative content analysis of available media and court-reported information on a hand-collected database of 192 accountant frauds in Australia during the period 2001-2011. Findings – The analysis highlights four distinct pathways to accountant fraud – crisis responders, opportunity takers, opportunity seekers and deviance seekers – and the relative distribution of identified cases among these pathways. It also identifies the prevalence of gambling, female offenders, small and medium enterprises as victims, as factors in fraud, as well as the relatively unsophisticated methods in much accountant fraud. In addition, it establishes the importance of situational attitude in moderating inherent character as it relates to fraudulent behaviour and the variable importance of the fraud triangle elements across the pathways to accountant fraud. Originality/value – This paper provides direct evidence on the nature and pathways to accountant fraud, thus improving understanding of a significant category of occupational fraud. The evidence challenges conventional characterisations of accountant fraud offenders in prior research.

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References

1990Qualitative evaluation and research methods 1958Social Theory and Social Structure 1938Social Structure and Anomie 1977The Intuitive Psychologist And His Shortcomings: Distortions in the Attribution Process 2017Social Structure and Anomie 2002The self-importance of moral identity.1975Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View.1967The attribution of attitudes

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