This research aims to contribute to the debate on fraud on public funds and the work that public auditors perform on this important topic, providing a useful analysis for government officials concerned about accountability, good governance, and transparency. This article presents a retrospective analysis of the European Court of Auditors’ (ECA) role in combating and preventing fraud. Using innovative research tools such as the Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner lexicon and other quantitative and qualitative research methods, evidence is found that ECA fraud audits reach a more negative tone in their conclusions than in the rest of the audits and that their audit recommendations on fraud are accepted to a lesser degree than the rest. Although in recent years the ECA has taken a more active role regarding fraud and stirring the public debate on this topic, its work is still hampered by its non-jurisdictional statute. The results obtained contribute to the literature on fraud in the public sector by bringing empirical evidence on public sector fraud audit with data of an under-researched and unique Supreme Audit Institution. This article opens up new avenues for future research and has practical implications for practitioners by offering them insights on their role on the issue, thus helping them to address some areas more prone to be affected by fraud.

中文翻译：

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寻求合法性：欧洲审计法院关于欺诈的工作

这项研究旨在促进关于公共资金欺诈的辩论以及公共审计师在这一重要主题上所做的工作，为关心问责制、良好治理和透明度的政府官员提供有用的分析。本文对欧洲审计院 (ECA) 在打击和预防欺诈方面的作用进行了回顾性分析。使用效价意识词典和情绪推理词典等创新研究工具以及其他定量和定性研究方法，有证据表明，ECA 欺诈审计的结论比其他审计更加负面，而且他们的审计建议与其他欺诈行为相比，欺诈行为被接受的程度较低。尽管近年来 ECA 在欺诈问题上发挥了更加积极的作用，并引发了有关该主题的公众辩论，但其工作仍然受到其无管辖权法规的阻碍。所获得的结果通过提供公共部门欺诈审计的经验证据以及未充分研究和独特的最高审计机构的数据，为公共部门欺诈的文献做出了贡献。本文为未来的研究开辟了新的途径，并对从业者产生了实际意义，让他们了解自己在这个问题上的作用，从而帮助他们解决一些更容易受到欺诈影响的领域。