False Accounts: Why Do Company Statements Often Offer a True and Fair View of Virtual Reality

This article draws attention to the systematic and organised criminal acts committed by legitimate enterprises and professionals, focusing on accounting fraud. Firstly, the extent and consequences of false accounting are considered, then a theoretical framework is outlined which focuses on structural issues commonly found in financial scandals around the world. The Gokal/BCCI fraud is summarised as a case study offering insights into the motives and modi operandi of accounting frauds. The analysis centres on theoretical and practical lessons to be learned from this case, which is placed in the context of evidence from other frauds in Europe and the USA. The article points to the importance of strains and pressures perpetrators are subject to, the rationalisations they use, the organisational culture and anomie. The author concludes with an outline of the policy implications.