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Who's Allegedly 'Cooking the Books' and Where?

By Toby J.F. Bishop and Frank E. Hydoski
December 17, 2009

As the economic downturn and financing challenges continue to put many organizations under heightened pressure, financial-statement fraud remains
a concern to lenders, investors and regulators. In a poll conducted during an April 23, 2009 Deloitte online seminar entitled “Managing Fraud Risk: Insights and Practical Strategies,” 72% of the 2,123 respondents indicated a belief that the number of accounting frauds uncovered would increase over the next two years.

When asked which type of financial-statement fraud was of greatest concern to them in the current economic environment, in second place after the usual answer ' manipulation of revenue recognition, chosen by 41% of respondents ' was manipulation for debt covenant compliance purposes. This scheme is not usually brought up in studies of common financial-statement frauds, but in this seminar it was selected by 18% of respondents. These results suggest that financial-statement fraud continues to be an important business risk for organizations to guard against.

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