Abstract
Bill of Lading (BoL) documentation fraud poses a serious threat to trade‐finance integrity in Tanzania, where regulatory gaps may create exploitable opportunities for criminal actors. Focusing on CRDB Bank’s trade‐finance operations, this study employed a convergent mixed‐methods design to assess how regulatory weaknesses, internal control deficiencies, and technological limitations drive Bill of Lading (BoL) fraud in Tanzania’s trade‑finance sector: a survey of 97 trade‐finance professionals and 18 semi‐structured interviews with compliance and regulatory experts. Quantitative analysis revealed that perceived regulatory weaknesses measured by policy currency, inspection frequency, and enforcement consistency strongly predict fraud frequency (β = .42, p < .001), accounting for 62% of variance in reported fraud occurrences. Thematic analysis identified three core enforcement deficits: outdated circulars, infrequent inspections, and inconsistent sanctions. Together, these findings validate the “opportunity” component of Fraud Triangle Theory and highlight the need for annual regulatory reviews, risk‐based unannounced audits, and harmonized enforcement protocols. Implementing these measures is expected to substantially reduce BoL fraud, safeguard institutional assets, and strengthen Tanzania’s trade‐finance ecosystem. Key findings indicate that perceived regulatory gaps (β = .42, p < .001), procedural lapses (β = .29, p = .001), and digital deficits (β = .23, p = .003) collectively explain 62% of fraud variance; thematic analysis identified outdated circulars, infrequent audits, and siloed data as core enforcement deficits.
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References
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