WTF code fragments

Those code fragments are real-life production fragments used in large corporate systems.

Why should I just return only the value I need?

// Do database query to request all statements matching the filter
accountStatements = listStatements.execute( filter, null, balance.getCurrencyDate(), null, sortFilter, sortOrdering );

AccountStatement lastStatement = null;
if( accountStatements.size() > 0 ) {
   logger.debug("found " + accountStatements.size() + " statements for this currencyBalance... take last..." );
   lastStatement = (AccountStatement)accountStatements.get( accountStatements.size()-1 );
   accountStatements.clear();
} else {
   logger.debug( "Nothing found for code " + balance.getGlobesCode().getValue() + "..." );
}

Lets take the last value of a list by walking over all entries

for (int i = 0; i < result.size(); i++) {
   final CurrencyBalance currencyBalance = (CurrencyBalance) result.get(i);
   if (currencyBalance.getClosingBalance() == null) {
      curValue = null;
   } else {
      curValue = currencyBalance.getClosingBalance().getAmount().getValue();
   }
}