CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In today’s increasing complex business environment, companies face numerous challenges and risks that are difficult for them to deal with. The threats are worsen by globalization and the advent of modern information technology that are combined to replace old business practices and advanced the pace electronically manipulated fraud on corporate financial mismanagement. The problem with the present companies is that they focus more on financial transactions than on the totality of the entities’ operation and often time neglect areas where there have been constant leakages of other original resources that are of financial consequences but which are not easily detected with a normal analysis of the financial statement.

This project is set out to analyze the appraisal of public awareness on forensic accounting in Nigeria. Forensic accounting professional is more of a private investigator with a financial sixth sense than the book keeper with a green eyeshade. Did you know that the first actor to play the world’s most famous detective Sherlock Holmes was on Accountant? It was only a matter of time, then before detective work and accounting came together to form the Super Sleuth Career now known as Forensic Accounting (Florida Atlantic University School of Accounting. February, 2008).

It is a thrill of hunt. Maurice E. Feloubet who coined the term forensic accounting in 1946 said that the Preparation of Financial Statements has some but not all the characteristics of forensic accounting.