Group perceptual fraud symptoms differences: a multi-group model analysis

A series of multi-group assessments of the structural model produced evidence that collusion was perceived as being the highest risk factor of all. The results for the 122 non-auditor respondents, drawn from the justice institutions, indicated that the direct links from opportunity (for fraud), management (organisation) characteristics, and justice avoidance, to commission of fraud, were not significantly different from zero; although they were so in the case of the perceptions of the 122 practicing auditors. Awareness of these links could be of assistance to the accounting profession, audit organisations, police interrogators, fraud prosecutors, and other relevant parties when collaborating to detect, deter, investigate, and prosecute all forms of fraud. It is anticipated that the evidence from this empirical investigation could lead to the incorporation of these concepts into the Institute for Fraud Prevention (IFP) call for research proposals and to the revision of the fraud risk factors and auditing standards in both global and local contexts.