EFFECTIVENESS OF FORENSIC ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES IN COMBATING FINANCIAL FRAUD IN LISTED DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA.

ABSTRACT Financial fraud remains a major threat to the Nigerian economy, undermining both public and private institutions. Traditional auditing methods have often failed to detect sophisticated fraud schemes, making it necessary to adopt more specialized approaches. Forensic accounting has emerged as a professional discipline that combines accounting, auditing, and investigative skills to uncover, prevent, and prosecute financial crimes. The problem addressed in this study is the persistence of financial fraud in Nigeria despite the growing adoption of forensic accounting practices, raising questions about its actual effectiveness in fraud control. The main objective of the study was to examine the effectiveness of forensic accounting techniques in combating financial fraud in Nigerian DMBs. Specifically, the research assessed the role of forensic accounting techniques in fraud detection and prevention. The study employed a descriptive survey design. A sample of 200 respondents was drawn from branch managers, accountants, IT specialists, and internal auditors. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. The reliability of the instrument was confirmed with a Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.98. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis using SPSS. Findings revealed that the predictors, commercial data mining (CDM) and ratio analysis (RA) have a significant relationship with fraud detection and prevention of DMBs in Nigeria while trend analysis (TA) has no significant relationship with fraud detection and prevention of DMBs in Nigeria. The study recommends investment in training and better technology. All listed deposit money banks, as a regulatory policy, should be mandated to install robust commercial data mining software in their internal audit units and Servers across the branches. Also, as the banks embrace technology, there should be human capacity building through staff training in the information technology system.