Pattern of Factors Affecting the Occurrence of Fraud in the Financial Statements of Iranian Companies with Forensic Accounting Approach: Based on Thematic Analysis Method (Theme)

Fraud is the most serious threat to the public interest and capital markets. Due to the lack of information about the phenomenon of fraud and the lack of a complete theoretical framework in the country, the aim of this study was to develop a Pattern of factors affecting the occurrence of fraud in the financial statements of Iranian companies. The present study is based on the theme analysis through purposeful interviews with 21 experts who have cooperated with regulatory and judicial authorities in important cases in investigating the fraud of some Iranian fraudulent companies; It has been done during the years 2020 to 2021. In this study, the reasons affecting the occurrence of fraud in the financial statements of Iranian companies in: 1- Personality factors, personal characteristics and tendencies (narcissism / overconfidence, ethics and commitment, motivation / pressure, justification and personal characteristics), 2- Factors Structure (organizational environment and culture, management (incompetence and motivation / pressure), opportunity / organizational context and 3- macro-organizational factors (economic-industrial and socio-political) along with a subset of each factor, were identified. fraud rhombus, fraud pentagon and other patterns that have been proposed so far on individual factors affecting fraud, The findings of this study are proposed to the Standards Development Committee in order to revise the auditing standard No. 240 and to assist regulatory bodies in identifying the causes of occurrence and combating the phenomenon of fraud.