Falsification

Falsification refers to any fraudulent alteration of accounting, financial or contractual documents intended to mislead third parties — investors, creditors, acquirers, tax authorities. It may affect financial statements (revenue manipulation, liability concealment), supporting documents (fictitious invoices, backdated contracts) or accounting records. In financial due diligence, detection relies on quantitative techniques — Benford's Law, journal entry analysis, cash flow reconciliation — and qualitative assessment of management disclosure inconsistencies and financial ratio anomalies. Legally, falsification constitutes a criminal offence engaging the personal liability of its perpetrators in both France and Switzerland.

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Example: during due diligence on a French target valued at CHF 12.0 million, analysis of the revenue journal reveals 48 year-end entries crediting revenue without documented customer counterparts — representing CHF 680,000 of fictitious revenue. This finding leads to termination of the transaction and filing of a criminal complaint for accounting document falsification.

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Hectelion integrates falsification detection procedures systematically in due diligences on targets presenting accounting red flags.