‘Faking profits, you end up with a problem of fake cash. At the end of the year the auditor will expect to see a healthy bank balance, it’s the first thing they check. So what you have to do is spend that fake cash on fake assets,’ he said. Imagine the auditor opens the treasure chest and finds it empty. We spent the gold on that building at the top of the hill, you say, handing them a telescope. So long as the accountant doesn’t walk up there and discover the house is just a wooden façade (or, indeed, get on a flight to Bahrain), everything is fine.
