The dramatic collapse of such huge corporations as Enron, WorldCom, and Global
Crossing, as well as the recent Bernard Madoff fraud case in the USA, has eroded
confidence in the financial markets and the accounting profession worldwide.
. The organizational impact of
fraud clearly cannot be neglected. About 40 percent of companies that have experienced
fraud suffer significant losses in terms of their reputation and in damaged business
relations and decreased staff motivation (Rezaee, 2008). Fraud has become increasingly
complicated, however, and every organization faces a fraud risk. When fraud is
committed by top management and is collusive in nature, it becomes even more difficult
to detect (Alleyne and Howard, 2005).