FINANCIAL STATEMENT FRAUD
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How Are Accounts Receivable Typically Manipulated?
Accounts receivables can be manipulated through the recording of non-
existent receivables in the nancial statements or by valuing receiv-
ables at amounts greater than their true value. While ctitious receivables
can result from ctitious sales (to be addressed later in this chapter),
they can also involve recording and overvaluing volume bonuses and
commissions from suppliers. This method was employed at a fraud
involving subsidiaries of Dutch grocery giant Royal Ahold NV. In 2004,
it settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges that subsidiar-
ies fraudulently inated earnings by nearly $830 million between 2000
and 2002.
The intentional failure to write off ...