IMPACT OF FORENSIC ACCOUNTING SERVICES ON PREVENTING AND DETECTING FRAUD IN NIGERIAN DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS

Abstract

The internal control system of any organisation determines how prone such an organisation will be to fraudulent practices. The operations of Nigerian Deposit Money Banks (NDMBs) is highly multifaceted, hence, requires sophisticated technology which in turn requires technology-driven expertise to design a sound internal control that will detect and prevent fraud in such system. This paper looked into how forensic accounting services impact on the internal control system in preventing and detecting frauds in Nigerian Deposit Money Banks (NDMBs).The studied sample was 210 representing the entire professional accounting / core staff working at the head office of theNDMBs listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as at December, 2018. Krejcie and Morgan (1970) simplified sample size decision table were used to derive our sample size of 136. Multiple regression analysis and T-test was used to analyze the data while the respondents’ responses to the questionnaires were selected using purposive sampling technique. The study revealed that forensic accounting services have a significant impact on preventing and detecting fraud in Nigerian DMBs. The study concluded that forensic accountant can be used to design sound internal control system that will prevent and detect frauds in Nigerian Deposit Money Banks. The study therefore recommended that NDMBs should engage/ employ the services of forensic accountant to fortify their internal control system against fraud.