The Relationship Between Perceived Pressure, Perceived Opportunity, Perceived Rationalization and Fraud Tendency Among Employees: A Study from the People’s Trust in Malaysia

Abstract This study empirically investigates the relationship between perceived pressure, perceived opportunity, perceived rationalization, and fraud tendency in people’s trust at the individual level in Malaysia. The study adopted a case study that focuses on the Indigenous People’s Trust Fund (Majlis Amanah Rakyat, MARA), a trust body fully supported by Malaysia’s government. Recently, corporate fraud has gained much attention in Malaysia, which negatively affects foreign investors’ perception. In Malaysia, several empirical studies were done on fraud, but fraud study in people’s trust and organization linked to the government is scanty. This study applied a quantitative method of correlation and multiple regression. From 177 respondents, the study uncovered that fraud tendency is high in people’s trust. This study suggests that follow up analysis and fraud control policy needs to be done in Malaysia’s organization. The study also reveals that perceived opportunity is considered as a significant variable influencing employees to commit fraud. The study’s outcomes are in line with past studies on the actual and generalization of “Fraud Triangle Theory.” It has practical implications in governance, internal control, fraud control, and employee hiring process.