http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/edit/ghost-employees-and-vanishing-finances.html

Ghost employees and vanishing finances

Joginder Singh

26 January 2015

The Pioneer

India, Jan. 26 — Drawing salaries in the name of workers who have never worked, and issuing subsidies to folks who died many years ago, are just a few of the many ways in which public servants steal from the state exchequer. Indian bureaucrats, some may argue, are second to none in devising newer methods of corruption. Irrespective of the legal definition of corruption practised by public servants, the de facto meaning is this: Get as much money and as many favours as possible for doing just regular work. However, be careful not to get arrested or lose your job (even though the latter is rare). Continue reading →

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/tsco/11113002/Tesco-accounting-scandal-QandA-what-happens-next.html

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

Related: [Flashback] Tesco shares could plunge to 140p amid jitters over lengthy fraud probes (Link); Directors are still not properly policing corporate dangers; Tesco Faces Fresh Accounting Investigation; Auditor PWC Gets Unseasonal Greetings for Tesco and Barclays Roles (Link); Study of audit committees shows slow progress on monitoring accounts and risks; Tesco’s accounting issues have highlighted the role of directors in spotting problems (Link)

Tesco accounting scandal Q&A: what happens next?

Tesco shares have fallen by 10pc after warning that profits have been overstated, but there could be worse to come

By Graham Ruddick

10:58AM BST 22 Sep 2014

What exactly has Tesco found?

Dave Lewis, the Tesco chief executive, says he has discovered that profits for the six month to the end of August were overstated by £250m due to the “accelerated recognition of commercial income and delayed accrual of costs”. In other words, Tesco has been paying suppliers later and taking monies from them earlier than it should have. Given that £250m represents roughly a quarter of profits, this suggest the practice was widespread in its UK business. Tesco has launched an investigation into the blackhole. Continue reading →

http://www.wattpad.com/83643565-fraud-detection-market-in-asia-industry-trends

http://www.whatech.com/market-research-reports/press-release/consumer/37891-new-report-looks-into-asian-fraud-detection-systems-market-that-is-estimated-to-grow-to-268-0-million-by-2018

http://www.digitalmarket.asia/ozone-media-partners-with-fraud-detection-company-forensiq/

Posted by Latha Do NADARAJAN , Year 3 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

New report looks into Asian fraud detection systems market that is estimated to grow to $268.0 million by 2018

The Asian Fraud Detection Systems report defines and segments the concerned market in Asia with analysis and forecast of revenue. The fraud detection systems market in Asia is estimated to grow to around $268.0 million by 2018, at a CAGR of 5.5% from 2013 to 2018. Continue reading →

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/india-seeks-to-overhaul-a-corporate-world-rife-with-fraud/?_r=0

Posted by GOH Shu Qi, Year 3 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

MUMBAI, India — In the wake of global scandals involving kickbacks and accounting fraud, one unlikely country, India, is aiming to set a tone in overhauling its corporate oversight laws. This month, the nation’s upper house of Parliament passed the Companies Bill, 2012, sweeping legislation meant to overhaul auditing, impose stiffer penalties for fraud and create more government oversight of businesses. The lower house had passed the bill last year. Once India’s president, Pranab Mukherjee, signs it into law, it will replace India’s 57-year-old corporate legislation that critics say had failed to keep up with changes in business practices.

India, a nation notoriously rife with graft and bribery, was partly motivated to pass the legislation in the wake of an accounting scandal that has been called India’s Enron. In 2009, B. Ramalinga Raju, the chairman of a prominent outsourcing company, Satyam Computer Services, confessed to overstating company assets and earnings by more than $1 billion, and then resigned. The fact that one company could defraud shareholders of such a large sum despite regular audits made painfully obvious the need for greater oversight in corporate India. But some four years after that startling case, little change in corporate laws had taken place until now. Continue reading →

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-23/visual-story-biggest-fraud-gold-mining-history

The Visual Story Of The Biggest Fraud In Gold Mining History

Tyler Durden on 01/23/2015 21:01 -0500

Courtesy of Visual Capitalist

This infographic documents the rise and fall of Bre-X.

Continue reading →

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/22/china-banks-lending-leasingfirms-idUSL3N0TS2RE20150122

Chinese banks pile up risks through loans to financial leasing firms

Wed, Jan 21 2015

By Engen Tham

SHANGHAI, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Chinese banks scrambling to meet capital adequacy rules have stepped up lending to financial leasing companies in the past year as they move away from traditional corporate loans that require them to set aside more funds as provisions.

Under global regulations known as BASEL III introduced last year, China’s biggest banks have to increase their capital as a percentage of their assets. To help free up funds to meet the rules, banks are looking for ways to cut provisions for some loans – even if they have to lend to companies leasing ships, tractors and building equipment in some of China’s most vulnerable sectors. Continue reading →

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/23/caterpillar-china-special-rep-idUSL3N0IT1SV20140123

Posted by YEO Wei Lin, Year 3 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

ZHENGZHOU, China, Jan. 23 (Reuters) – Asia’s top mergers and acquisitions bankers gathered two years ago at the swanky Island Shangri La in Hong Kong to celebrate the top deals of 2012. As the transactions were being toasted, one was unraveling.

Advisers on Caterpillar Inc’s $677 million purchase of ERA Mining Machinery Ltd picked up an award for cross-border deal of the year. The purchase was billed as a coup for Caterpillar, the world’s top maker of tractors and excavators. ERA was the holding company for Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical & Electrical Equipment Manufacturing Co Ltd, one of China’s biggest makers of hydraulic coal-mine roof supports. Siwei would help Caterpillar gain traction in the world’s largest coal industry. Continue reading →

Should Employers Offer Financial Incentives for Whistleblowing

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/columnists/will-deener/20100321-Whistle-blowers-find-more-corporate-fraud-7567.ece

Posted by CHEN Tiancheng, Year 4 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

Should Employers Offer Financial Incentives for Whistleblowing

It is well known that many employees do not blow the whistle for fear of repercussions if they do (from harassment to dismissal and various poor treatment in between). So should we offer incentives to employees to follow a whistleblowing procedure, in order that health and safety breaches and other illegality can be promptly brought to employers’ attention and swift remedial steps taken? Continue reading →

http://www.icij.org/project/luxembourg-leaks/big-4-audit-firms-play-big-role-offshore-murk

Posted by NG Sin Ying, Year 4 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

Global accounting giants are prime architects of the offshore money maze – and supporting characters in an array of offshore scandals

For more than a decade, tax gurus at PricewaterhouseCoopers helped Caterpillar Inc., the U.S. heavy equipment maker, move profits produced by its lucrative spare-parts business from the U.S. to a tiny subsidiary in Switzerland. Continue reading →

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 →