Financial Statement Fraud: Case Study of a Few Public Limited Companies in Botswana

Financial Statement Fraud is a worldwide issue that has affected many companies’, such as Enron and WorldCom and many others in the world. The scholars’ objective was to identify the awareness of financial statement fraud specifically in Public Limited Companies in Botswana and also to find out if there were measures put in place to prevent financial statement fraud. As a case study at random, fifteen Public Limited Companies out of 23 listed in the Botswana Stock Exchange were taken into account for this research. It was located that the companies were aware of the need of strong and relevant internal controls over financial reporting as to detect or better yet prevent fraudsters from destroying their companies. Further it was identified that companies have put in place sufficient and effective measures to prevent and also to detect fraud in their organizations. When the scholars had a cross check with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Botswana, it was highlighted that financial statement fraud is an extremely bad issue in Botswana. Therefore, the study recommends Public Limited Companies have to make intensive investigations on the individuals they hire regardless of the sufficient measures already put in place to prevent fraud.