Correlative Influence of External Auditors and Forensic Accountants on Effective Management of Fraud

Countries are presently faced with serious economic and social crises where corruption is the order of the day. In recent times, fraud has infected many companies in Nigeria of which Cadbury and formerAfribank Plc. are few of them.The study examined the complementary services of forensic accountants in annual audit exercises in reducing fraudulent activities in companies and equally determined the correlative influence of external auditors and forensic accountants on effective management of frauds in organizations. The study adopted the descriptive research method in the collection and analyses of data obtained from the studied companies. A survey design was used, where the researcher gathered practical and dependable information by utilizing both primary and secondary data. The findings of the study revealed that complementary services of forensic accountants in the annual audit exercise of the companies considerably reduced the incidence of fraud cases in Nigerian companies and there was a significant correlative influence of forensic accountants and external auditors on effective management of fraud in Nigerian companies.The study concluded that fraud rate could be reduced in Nigerian companies with the complementary services of the forensic accountants during external audit processes.