The Relevance of Forensic Accounting to Financial Crimes in Private and Public Sectors of Third World Economies: A Study from Nigeria

Abstract

The research studied financial crimes in developing economies. Fraud and corruption has affected the lives of citizens of third world countries negatively, it is engraved in the systems, it is alarming and seriously devastating. The work specifically evaluates the extent of financial crimes in developing countries and compares the private and public sector with a view to determine the sector where the services of forensic accountants is more required. The results of our reviews are that fraud and corruption are fundamental problems of third world countries. Empirically, we found that investigative or forensic accountant has a role to play, generally, but more in the public sector. We then recommend the strengthening of forensic accounting institution and utilization of their services in public sector of developing nations economies.