Corporate and Public Sector Fraud in Pakistan: Risk Assessment, Digital Controls, and Governance Reforms

Abstract

Fraud has been an endemic issue in corporate and government sector organizations in Pakistan resulting in financial losses, poor governance, and deteriorated stakeholder confidence. This paper will discuss how fraud risk, digital controls, and governance reforms impact the occurrence of fraud using a quantitative research design. The sample size of 200 professionals working in corporate and public sector institutions was used to gather data in a structured questionnaire that had a five-point Likert scale. Statistical analysis using SPSS was done with descriptive statistics, correlation and regression. The results indicate that the risk of fraud has a strong positive impact on the occurrence of fraud, whereas the digital controls and the reform of governance have significant negative associations with fraud. The findings also suggest that organizations that have more robust governance structures are more likely to adopt an effective digital control system and thus minimize the exposure to fraud. The paper points out that the alone mechanism is not enough, but rather an integrated approach to risk assessment, technological controls and governance reforms are necessary in the complete prevention of fraud. These results can be valuable insights to policymakers and organizational leaders to enhance the effectiveness of anti-fraud measures and improve the resilience of institutions.