Evaluation of The Effectiveness of Investigative Audit and Digital Forensics: Uncovering The Modus Operandi of Financial Fraud in Public Sector Financial Institutions

Abstract

Digitization of transactions increases the complexity of financial fraud investigations in financial institutions owned, managed, or carrying out public sector mandates. This study evaluates the effectiveness of investigative audits and digital forensics in uncovering fraud modus operandi, as well as identifying the prerequisites for the integration of the two. The study uses a qualitative approach in the form of a structured narrative literature review and document analysis, with the conceptual locus of public sector financial institutions in Indonesia. The study materials include scientific articles published in 2022–2026 as well as official documents from BPK, OJK, NIST, IIA, ACFE, and GAO. The synthesis findings show that investigative audits play a role in reconstructing fund flows, authorization irregularities, related party relationships, and losses, while digital forensics helps examine log trails, metadata, communications, and integrity of electronic evidence. Traceable modes include fictitious transactions, document manipulation, misuse of access, repeated payments, and procurement collusion, but the available evidence does not allow calculation of the combined success rate of the two approaches. Evaluative effectiveness depends on data quality, evidence traceability, examiner independence, multidisciplinary competence, and institutional follow-up. This study offers a matrix of effectiveness indicators and investigative integration flows that can be used as the basis for subsequent empirical evaluations.