Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the type of internal control weaknesses and its impact that leads to fraud activities in an oil and gas company, which is rarely found in empirical research. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach was taken to investigate and analyse the fraud incidents to the deepest understanding. A mixed method of data collection, specifically document analysis and interviews, was used. Findings The study found that internal control weaknesses can be major contributing factors for fraud to be committed. Poor supervision and improper documentation process provide opportunity to misappropriate the assets, worst off if it includes several people that cooperate to conduct those illegal malpractices. Research limitations/implications The results provide further confirmation of the fraud triangle theory on the causes of the fraud, i.e. opportunity because of weak internal control. It also validates with many prior studies conducted by global professional firms such as KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners on fraud and its related causes and implications. This study, however, was conducted on only one company with limited number of interviews. Practical implications This study provides some recommendations to improve weak internal control, which in turn will reduce opportunities of fraud committed in the company. Originality/value This study is original, as it focuses on a company that operates in the highly specialized industry, i.e. oil and gas, which is rare in fraud literature, particularly in developing markets such as Malaysia. It has examined various documents and reports of employee fraud that are generally difficult to be accessed by researchers to be finally published in an academic journal. The findings of this study are inferred from direct access of company documents that are private and confidential.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the causes and impact of employee fraud, focusing on one particular industry, namely, the automotive industry. Design/methodology/approach One company was selected as a case for the study. Qualitative data analysis was used for the study, with two techniques for data collection. First was the content or document analysis on various reports, such as employee fraud reports and records of disciplinary action, and second was a series of interviews with employees from different levels and various departments of the company. Findings This study found that the most popular type of fraud is misappropriation of assets, including theft of cash and inventories. No significant differences were seen in terms of fraudster position, as they can come from both the lower and the executive level. However, majority of the fraudsters come from the operational and sales department. This study also found that majority of the fraudsters in the case study were male, new employees and young adults. Their motivations to commit fraud include lack of understanding about fraud behavior, opportunity to commit fraud and lifestyle and financial pressure. Research limitations/implications The results provide further confirmation of the Fraud Triangle Theory and Fraud Diamond Theory on the causes of the fraud. They are also consistent with much prior research and surveys conducted by global professional firms on fraud and its related causes and implications. This study, however, was conducted on only one company with several series of interviews and three years of document analysis. Future research should collect and analyze data from a higher number of companies with more respondents for interviews and longer period for document analysis to get more accurate results. Practical implications This study provides some recommendations for fraud prevention in the future based on real fraud cases and those that involved managing cases up to and including disciplinary decision. These include closed supervision, fraud awareness training, clearer job descriptions, cultivation of a pleasant working environment and improved security control. Social implications This study found that some of the causes of fraud include social factors like lifestyle and financial pressure due to low income. Policy adjustments, such as an effort to push people beyond the poverty line with higher minimum wages, need to be made to prevent low-income workers from seeing their company as another source of illegal income. Originality/value This study is original, as it focuses on a company that operates in the automotive industry, which is rare in fraud literature, particularly in developing markets. In addition, the company is new, so analysis can be conducted on how the company evolved and learned from the fraud analysis for prevention in the future. Furthermore, this study used two techniques of data collection, so that verification of the findings may be made for better reliability.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conduct an investigation into the relationship between a firm’s corporate governance mechanisms (audit committee composition and operation, block shareholder, CEO duality, financial state, ownership dominance, political connection, share price, and family control) and auditor quality selection in Malaysia, for periods before and after the introduction of Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance in 2007 (MCCG 2007). Design/methodology/approach 300 companies listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange from 2006 to 2008 were selected. A Binary regression method was used to analyse the data collected from both annual reports and financial databases. Findings The study has found that in general, MCCG 2007 influenced auditor selection through restructuring of corporate governance tools, such as audit committees and internal audit functions. Research limitations/implications Results have provided evidence that the restructuring of corporate governance may contribute and drive company to enhance the quality of the audit performed by selecting better quality auditor and/or improvising the audit related functions within the company such as formalising internal audit function. This study, however, employed an archival method of study and only used three years (2006, 2007 and 2008) of data analysis. Future research should analyse data from a longer period and utilize a field survey to understand reasons for auditor selection from the company perspective. Originality/value Building on previous studies, this study contributes to the current body of knowledge as it also considers the objective from the perspective of the revised MCCG 2007. It examines whether the introduction of new or revised corporate governance guidelines may immediately impact company auditor selection. Therefore, it compares the auditor quality of the company from pre-MCCG 2007 (2006) and post-MCCG 2007 (2008).

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