Uncovering Corporate Fraud: Forensic Simulation Applied to The Chiquita Brands Case in ‎Colombia

  • Authors

    • Orlando Carmelo Castellanos Polo Research professor at the Grancolombiano Polytechnic University Institution
    • Edel Rocío Lasso Silva Research professor at the Grancolombiano Polytechnic University Institution
    • Fernán Alonso Cardona Quintero Research professor at the Grancolombiano Polytechnic University Institution
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ch23pp24

    Received date: June 26, 2025

    Accepted date: August 3, 2025

    Published date: August 28, 2025

  • Fraud Detection Case; Corporate Fraud Case; Forensic Accounting Case; Occupational Fraud; ‎Forensic Simulation; Internal Audit; Corporate Liability; Financial Crimes

  • Abstract

    This article presents a didactic simulation designed as a pedagogical tool, not an empirical ‎investigation, to enhance the teaching of forensic auditing in higher education. The pedagogical ‎use of practical cases for teaching forensic auditing has proven to be an effective tool for students ‎to understand the dynamics of fraud from a critical and empirical perspective (Felski, 2024). ‎Inspired by the dual approach proposed by Felski, where students first "commit" fraud and then ‎detect it as forensic auditors, this study replicates the logic in a real-life context, analyzing the ‎documented case of Chiquita Brands International Inc., a company that, according to court ‎documents and testimonies, made systematic payments of more than $1.7 million to paramilitary ‎groups in Colombia between 1997 and 2004, under an accounting structure designed to conceal ‎the illegality of such transactions.‎

    The evidence contained in the report submitted to the International Criminal Court reveals that the ‎payments were not only known and authorized by high-level executives but were also integrated ‎into internal accounting systems that deliberately omitted traceability and the true purpose of the ‎transfers. Such practices offer an invaluable opportunity for students to analyze evidence of fraud, ‎document accounting inconsistencies, and examine the mens rea (malicious intent) in the way ‎financial contributions to the AUC, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. since 2001, were ‎designed and executed.‎

    The proposed educational exercise consists of reconstructing the accounting flows and internal ‎control systems used by Chiquita, identifying regulatory gaps, and applying digital forensic audit ‎techniques to uncover how the concealment schemes were structured. It also promotes ethical ‎reflection on individual and corporate responsibility in the commission of financial crimes of ‎international impact. This methodology strengthens not only the technical competence of auditors ‎in training, but also their ethical judgment in complex situations where fraud is masked under ‎strategic "business" decisions‎.

  • References

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  • How to Cite

    Polo , O. C. C. ., Silva, E. R. L. ., & Quintero, F. A. C. . (2025). Uncovering Corporate Fraud: Forensic Simulation Applied to The Chiquita Brands Case in ‎Colombia. International Journal of Accounting and Economics Studies, 12(4), 742-746. https://doi.org/10.14419/ch23pp24