Financial statement fraud detection in public listed companies / Nurul Hidayah Khamsani, Siti Aida Sheikh Hussin and Zalina Zahid

Purpose The study aims to detect financial statement fraud in 220 companies listed in Bursa Malaysia.

Findings The results indicate around 45% of the companies in the sample manipulated their financial statements. Financial stability is the only proxy affecting the presence of financial statement fraud.

Practical implications Findings from this research can help auditors identify early warning signals of fraud in financial statements. Bursa Malaysia can use the information to encourage Malaysian publicly listed companies to enhance anti-fraud policies.

Originality/value Quantitative method using Beneish model that is part of fraud triangle theory applied to the research framework. Factors included are financial stability, leverage, financial target, number of audit committees, and auditor changes.