Fraud definition
Fraud definition in Black’s Law Dictionary is : "all multifarious means which human ingenuity can devise, and which are resorted to by one individual to get an advantage over another by false suggestions or suppression of the truth. It includes all surprise, trick, cunning or dissembling, and any unfair way by which another is cheated".
Put more succinctly, fraud definition includes any intentional or deliberate act to deprive another of property or money by guile, deception, or other unfair means.
Principal Types to define fraud:
The principal categories of fraud definition (also known as white-collar crime) are:
- Fraudulent misrepresentation of material facts (or false pretences);
- Negligent misrepresentation;
- Concealment of material facts;
- Bribery;
- Illegal gratuity;
- Economic extortion;
- Conflicts of interest;
- Forgery;
- Theft of money or property;
- Breach of contract;
- Breach of fiduciary duty;
- Gross negligence;
- Conspiracy;
- Obstruction of justice;
- Perjury;
- False claims and statements to government agencies.
- Payday loan scams
Define fraud in Financial Statement:
Financial statement Fraud definition is the deliberate misrepresentation of the financial condition of an enterprise accomplished through the intentional misstatement or omission of amounts or disclosures in the financial statements to deceive financial statement users.
Note that financial statement Fraud definition, much like all types of fraud, is an intentional act. The International Standard on Auditing (ISA) define fraud, The Auditor’s Responsibility Relating to define fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements is: “misstatements in the financial statements can arise from error or fraud. The distinguishing factor between error and Fraud definition is whether the underlying action that results in the misstatement of the financial statements is intentional or unintentional.”
Financial statement Fraud definition is usually a means to an end rather than an end in itself. For example, we define fraud when people “cook the books,” they might be doing it to "buy more time" to quietly fix business problems that prevent their company from achieving its expected earnings or complying with loan covenants. It might also be done to obtain or renew financing that would not be granted, or would be smaller, if honest financial statements were provided. People who are intent on profiting from crime might commit financial statement Fraud definition to obtain loans they can then siphon off for personal gain or to inflate the price of the company’s shares, allowing them to sell their holdings or exercise stock options at a profit, or even obtain bonus money calculated based on sales or profits. However, in many past financial statement fraud definition, the perpetrators have gained little or nothing personally in financial terms.
Instead, the focus appears to have been preserving their status as the organisations’Leaders, a status that might have been lost had the real financial results been published promptly.
Financial statement Fraud definition almost always involves overstating assets, revenues, and profits and understating liabilities, expenses, and losses. However, sometimes the opposite result is desired. For example, understating assets or revenue might lead to a smaller tax liability for the company. Alternatively, a fraudster might wish to play down over-budget results in a good year in order to help make up for any shortcomings during the subsequent year.
Financial statements are the responsibility of the organisation’s management. Accordingly, financial statement Fraud definition is typically committed by someone in a managerial role who not only has the ability to alter the financial statements, but also has an incentive to do so. Since Fraud definition investigations are typically conducted or overseen by management, financial statement Fraud definition cases often persist for a long time before the whistle is blown and the Fraud definition is discovered.
