http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/22/thousands-of-huawei-workers-respond-to-internal-anti-fraud-campaign/?_r=0

Posted by Valerie NG, Year 3 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

Thousands at Huawei Came Forward in Push Against Fraud, Founder Says

By PAUL MOZUR and SHANSHAN WANG

JANUARY 22, 2015 9:07 AM January 22, 2015 9:07 am  Comment

HONG KONG — In a rare media appearance, Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker, said on Thursday that the company recently carried out a campaign aimed at cutting back fraud in the company. Mr. Ren said that 4,000 to 5,000 employees had come forward to admit to various improprieties as part of a “confess for leniency” program that the company set up last year, according to an interview that was streamed live from the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “The biggest enemy we’ve run into isn’t other people, it’s ourselves,” he said. As part of the program, Huawei told employees that it would be lenient with them if they came forward before Dec. 31 of last year to admit to any violations of company policy throughout their career, according to an employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was discussing company affairs without permission.

Violations admitted by the employees included small misdemeanors, fraudulent reporting of financial information to the company, and even bribery and corruption. Any cases uncovered after the deadline will be transferred directly to the Chinese authorities, according to the employee. Continue reading →

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2015/01/21/s-p-to-pay-nearly-80-million-in-settlements/?_r=1

Posted by SEAH Hui Ting, Year 3 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

S&P to Pay Nearly $80 Million to Settle Fraud Cases

Standard & Poor’s, the credit rating agency blamed for helping inflate the subprime mortgage bubble, has settled accusations that it orchestrated a similar fraud years after the bubble burst. Continue reading →

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2015/01/351_171136.html 

Justice or economics?

5 January 2015

Korea Times

By Andrew Salmon

It’s that time of year again: The time of year to recover from lingering hangovers; to implement those pesky new year’s resolutions; and to, er, parole or pardon the depressingly long roster of corporate criminals. Voices have been rising in the ruling party and the administration for the president to exercise her right to grant paroles and/or pardons to these white-collar wrongdoers. And there are a lot of them ― almost a “Who’s Who” of Korea Inc’s elite.

Tycoons attending the boardroom behind bars include (deep breath): SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and his younger brother, both serving raps for embezzlement; CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun for embezzlement, breach of trust and tax evasion; LIG Group Chairman Koo Bong-sang, for defrauding investors; Tongyang Group Chairman Hyun Jae-hyun for a billion-dollar-plus fraud; Taekwang Group Chairman Lee Ho-jin for embezzlement and breach of trust; and ex-STX Chairman Kang Duk-soo, for embezzlement and accounting fraud. Continue reading →

Police arrest Kalimantan palm-oil tycoon Budiono Tan

12 January 2015

The Jakarta Post

The West Kalimantan Police have arrested palm-oil tycoon Budiono Tan, who allegedly misappropriated 1,535 land certificates of oil-palm farmers in Ketapang, West Kalimantan.

The businessman, who runs a plantation through PT Benua Indah Grup (BIG), was caught on Friday night in West Jakarta after being sought for five years. Continue reading →

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Prosecutors-did-their-best-30189460.html

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Takeover-king-Pin-ends-exile-back-in-Bangkok-30189378.html

http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/magazine/2000/0623/ispin.june.html

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2000/dec/09/5

Thailand: Prosecutors ‘did their best’

3 September 2012

Thai News Service

Section: General News – Attorney General Praphan Naikowit on August 30 rejected claims that his office had failed in its mission to locate and seek the extradition of Pin Chakkaphak, whose alleged massive siphoning-off of funds from his own business was seen as sparking the 1997 economic meltdown, The Nation reports. Praphan defended public prosecutors after it was disclosed that Pin has returned to Bangkok following the expiry of the 15-year statute of limitations in his case. The Bank of Thailand accused Pin of collaborating with two others to embezzle Bt2.127 billion from his Finance One Group in 1996-97. Continue reading →

http://ww2.cfo.com/gaap-ifrs/2015/01/struggle-simplify-accounting
The Struggle to Simplify Accounting: Companies just don’t want to give up the flexibility to manage financial reporting that’s provided by the complexity of accounting standards.
Edward W. Trott
January 22, 2015 | CFO.com | US
Complexity in accounting is sometimes necessary when the transaction or economic event is complex. Some measurements will always be complex when there is the lack of significant observable data with which to make an estimate.
But much of the current complexity in accounting standards is unnecessary. This excess complexity is usually supported by CFOs and other corporate preparers of financial statements (who would most benefit from simplification of the standards) because of a desire to avoid the effort to undergo major changes in accounting standards. Continue reading →

http://www.merinews.com/article/corporate-fraud-reports-a-45-per-cent-increase-in-india-assocham-grant-thorton/15903512.shtml

Click to access Grant_Thortnon_Assocham_Fraud-A_key_governance_risk.pdf

Click to access Vidya-Rajarao.pdf

Corporate fraud reports a 45 per cent increase in India: ASSOCHAM-Grant Thornton

15 January 2015

Merinews

Dian corporate frauds arising out of corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, window dressing, financial reporting fraud and bribery have increased by over 45% in the last two years due to weakness in internal controls, scarcity of resources at disposal and over-riding powers of the senior management, according to an ASSOCHAM-Grant Thornton study. The joint survey by ASSOCHAM and Grant Thornton revealed that the companies related to real estate and infrastructure sector (52%) are considered to be the most vulnerable to fraud related incidences followed by financial services (34%), telecom (5%), manufacturing (3%), electronics and IT/ ITeS (2%), Hospitality and tourism (2%). Over 65% of our survey respondents agreed to witness a rising trend of wilful defaults and frauds. The survey observed that the lurking risk of frauds has been dissuading global companies from investing in India, points out the survey. Procurement frauds, payrolls frauds, asset misappropriation, financial misstatement, corruption, bribery, tax evasion, piracy, intellectual Property (IP) fraud, kickbacks, accounting frauds, counterfeiting, white-collar crimes etc are swiftly threatening business in both the private and public sectors, adds the report.

Continue reading →

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2015-01-21/aging-japanese-prove-rich-pickings-for-investment-fraud.html

Aging Japanese Prove Rich Pickings for Investment Fraud

By Masaaki Iwamoto – Jan 21, 2015

A growing number of retirees in Japan are falling victim to fraud, underscoring a downside of promoting personal investment in the world’s most aged nation. Combating the problem is a rising challenge for the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as it encourages Japanese households to shift more of their 1,654 trillion yen ($14 trillion) in assets out of savings accounts and into investments that boost the economy. Continue reading →

http://www.sequenceinc.com/fraudfiles/2013/06/escaping-detection-why-auditors-do-not-find-fraud/​

Posted by CHEN Liting, Year 3 undergrad at the School of Business, Singapore Management University

Escaping Detection: Why Auditors Do Not Find Fraud

June 25, 2013

This article was originally printed in Valuation Strategies, a magazine published by Thomson Reuters.

Even with all the publicity surrounding the issue of financial fraud in the last decade, most auditors, investors, and other professionals still do not “get it” when it comes to detecting fraud. Traditional financial statement audits were never designed to detect fraud. Continue reading →