Technology-Based Forensic Auditing and Financial Crime Detection: An Empirical Analysis of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

The advent and rapid rate of technological development have prompted various fields of study to receive a new touch. One of those fields of study that has been revamped by the technological revolution is accounting. This study examined technology-based forensic auditing and financial crime detection: an empirical analysis of deposit money banks in Nigeria. The research design adopted in the study is the survey design. The survey design was adopted because the data for the study was extracted through the primary method of distributing questionnaires to the respective respondents. The population of the study is made up of the accounting staff of some selected deposit money banks in Abuja, Nigeria. The total population is made up of 58 persons. The method that was used in collecting data for the study was the questionnaire instrument. The questionnaire was distributed to the respondents to extract specific information in line with the objectives of the study. The method of data analysis that was used in this study is multiple linear regression with the application of the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique. The findings of the study reveal that technology-based forensic auditing contributes significantly to financial crime detection in selected deposit money banks in Nigeria. The implication of this finding is that deposit money banks have already embraced and started applying technologically based forensic auditing in their financial crime explorations. It is therefore the recommendation of the study that auditors should stay abreast of the updates of other technological forensic auditing tools and step up their financial intelligence skills by embedding textual analysis in audit engagement to sharpen their skepticism for proper audit evidence and also favorably influence the technological forensic audit quality.