Numbers can be fudged, cash not

Rolfes had to release restated results after alleged fraud was discovered. Here’s some advice on how to spot possible fraud if you’re a shareholder.

Simon Brown

reading the Rolfes restated results, I was struck by how easy it is to fudge numbers and how hard it is to fudge cash. Rolfes’ financial director left early this year when it was discovered that he was seemingly not doing things by the book. News of this sent the stock down some 20%. The recently released results had to restate previous results to correct for the errors, and while there were lots of moving parts and great disclosure from the company, the cash was largely unchanged – because cash is cash. Now, before moving on, the fact that Rolfes’ former financial director, Johan Ferreira, was seemingly able to cheat the numbers raises two important questions. Where was the board, which should have had more oversight? And perhaps even more importantly, where…

You're reading a preview of

Finweek - English (Digital) - 1 Issue, 19-oct-17

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.