11.4 The assistant finance director for the city of Tustin, California, was fired after city of-ficials discovered that she had used her access to city computers to cancel her daugh-ter's $300 water bill. An investigation revealed that she had embezzled a large sum ofmoney from Tustin over a long period. She was able to conceal the embezziement forso long because the amount embezzled always fell within a 2% error factor used by thecity's internal auditors. What weaknesses existed in the audit approach? How could theaudit plan be improved? What internal control weaknesses were present in the system?Should Tustin's internal auditors have discovered this fraud earlier?

Internal controls are a collection of formal and administrative measures taken by a company to…

11.4 The assistant finance director for the city of Tustin, California, was fired after city of- ficials discovered that she had used her access to city computers to cancel her daugh- ter's $300 water bill. An investigation revealed that she had embezzled a large sum of money from Tustin over a long period. She was able to conceal the embezzlement for so long because the amount embezzled always fell within a 2% error factor used by the city's internal auditors. What weaknesses existed in the audit approach? How could the audit plan be improved? What internal control weaknesses were present in the system? Should Tustin's internal auditors have discovered this fraud earlier?

11.4 The assistant finance director for the city of Tustin, California, was fired after city of- ficials discovered that she had used her access to city computers to cancel her daugh- ter's $300 water bill. An investigation revealed that she had embezzled a large sum of money from Tustin over a long period. She was able to conceal the embezzlement for so long because the amount embezzled always fell within a 2% error factor used by the city's internal auditors. What weaknesses existed in the audit approach? How could the audit plan be improved? What internal control weaknesses were present in the system? Should Tustin's internal auditors have discovered this fraud earlier?

Auditing: A Risk Based-Approach (MindTap Course List)

11th Edition

ISBN:9781337619455

Author:Karla M Johnstone, Audrey A. Gramling, Larry E. Rittenberg

Publisher:Karla M Johnstone, Audrey A. Gramling, Larry E. Rittenberg

Chapter11: Auditing Inventory, Goods And Services, And Accounts Payable: The Acquisition And Payment Cycle

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 8RQSC

See similar textbooks

Similar questions

In a recent financial fraud case, city employees in Brooklyn, New York, accessed electronic databases to defraud the city of $20 million. Several employees in collusion with the former deputy tax collector completely erased or reduced $13 million in property taxes and $7 million in accrued interest that taxpayers owed. In exchange for this service, the taxpayers paid the employees involved bribes of 10 to 30 percent of their bills. Required Discuss the control techniques that could prevent or detect this fraud.
In a financial fraud case, city employees in Brooklyn, New York, accessed digital databases to defraud the city of $20 million. Several employees, in collusion with the former deputy tax collector, completely erased or reduced $13 million in property taxes and $7 million in accrued interest that taxpayers owed. In exchange for this service, the taxpayers paid the employees involved bribes of 10 to 30 percent of their bills. Required Discuss the control techniques that could prevent or detect this fraud.
Braun issued a $35 check to Rice. Rice took the check to Braun’s bank and had it certified. Rice then raised the amount to $350 and negotiated it to Turner. Turner presented the check for payment and received $350. When Braun received her canceled checks, she noticed the alteration and notified the bank. Who will suffer the loss?
Superior Cabinets maintains a petty cash fund for minor business expenditures. The petty cashcustodian, Mo Smith, describes the events that occurred during the last two months:a. I established the fund by cashing a Superior Cabinets’ check for $300 made payable to me.b. Liz Clay provided a receipt for $50 for various supplies. I paid $50 cash to her.c. James Flyer provided a $70 taxi receipt, so I paid $70 cash to him.d. Ricky Ricota claimed to do photocopying for Superior Cabinets at The UPS Store for $97 buthad misplaced the receipt. I took him at his word and paid $97 cash to him.e. On the last day of the month, I prepared a summary of expenditures and requested the fund bereplenished. I received and cashed a Superior Cabinets’ check for $217, placing the cash intothe locked cash box.f. James Flyer provided receipts for taxi costs ($75), so I paid $75 cash to him.g. Woo Riun provided a $147 receipt from a local delivery company for an expedited delivery toa customer. I paid her $147…
Charles Hart, an accounts payable clerk, is an hourly employee. He never works a minute past 5 PM unless the overtime has been approved. Charles has recently found himself faced with some severe financial difficulties. He has been accessing the system from his home during the evening and setting up an embezzlement scheme. As his boss, what control technique(s) discussed in this chapter could you use to help detect this type of fraud?
A long-time employee had become such a trusted employee that their bosses had put them in charge of paying bills, balancing bank accounts, and handling other cash management responsibilities. The employee became ill and took sick leave. During their absence, their employer determined they had been stealing company cash for years by forging checks and tamporing with company documents. The stolen cash was used to stoke a gambling habit. In total, the employee stole nearly $320,000. Answer questions in short answers What were the employee's perceived opportunities? What pressure did the trusted employee have to commit fraud? How did the fact that they were a trusted employee give them more opportinity to commit fraud? How do vices motivate people to commit fraud?
O In June, a local Amtrak office established a petty cash fund with Terrell Noman as its custodian. Terrell received and cashed a company check of $175 to establish the fund. During that month, Terrell paid cash from the fund for supplies ($30), delivery charges ($80), and other minor office expenses ($40). On July 10, he received a company check for $150 to replenish the fund. Required: 1. Prepare the journal entry required in June. 2. Prepare the journal entry required in July. 3. Explain why it may be appropriate or inappropriate to wait until July to record the payments from the petty cash fund.
Identify the internal control principle that was violated in each of the following separate situations. a. The recordkeeper left town after the owner discovered a large sum of money had disappeared. An audit found that the recordkeeper had written and signed several checks made payable to his fiancée and recorded the checks as salaries expense. b. An employee was put in charge of handling cash. That employee later stole cash from the business. The company incurred an uninsured loss of $184,000. c. There is $500 in cash missing from a cash register drawer. Three salesclerks shared the cash register drawer, so the owner cannot determine who is at fault.
Omicron Ltd. has a petty cash fund for $2,750 when established. When financial statements are prepared at the end of the month it replenishes the fund. The company finds that the fund is empty in the last week of the month so it decides to increase the fund size by 50%. On February 18th, when it is decided to increase the petty cash fund size, there are $1,285 in expense receipts and vouchers that justify the depletion of the fund during the month. Omicron Ltd. decides to replenish and increase the fund size in the same journal entry. Required 1: How much is the cheque written to complete this transaction? $
5. What does Tina mean in her statement to the Clare County Review "the effects of an embezzlement are far reaching and detrimental for everyone"? Who were all the stakeholders that were all affected in this case? How was each of them harmed? 6. Jenifer was caught embezzling via the payroll system, how else might she have been stealing from the company that was never proven? 7. Why do you think Jenifer embezzled the money? 8. Do you think her sentencing is too lenient, too harsh, or is appropriate? Why? 9. What would you do if your friend and employee was stealing from a company that you owned?
In the Why It Matters feature “Examples of Theft and FinancialReporting Frauds” at the beginning of the chapter, we introduced youto the Koss Corporation fraud. In this problem, we provide you withfurther details about that fraud. During the fall of 2009, Koss Corporation,a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of stereo headphone equipment,revealed that its vice president of finance (Sujata “Sue” Sachdeva) haddefrauded the company of approximately $31 million over a periodof at least five years. Grant Thornton LLP was the company’s auditor,and the firm issued unqualified audit opinions for the entire period in which they worked for Koss. According to reports, Sachdeva’s theftaccelerated over a period of years as follows:FY 2005 $2,195,477FY 2006 $2,227,669FY 2007 $3,160,310FY 2008 $5,040,968FY 2009 $8,485,937Q1 FY 2010 $5,326,305Q2 FY 2010 $4,917,005To give you a sense of the magnitude of the fraud, annual revenuesfor Koss Corporation are in the range of $40 to $45 million…
All-Around Sound Co. discovered a fraud whereby one of its front office administrative employees used company funds to purchase goods such as computers, digital cameras, and other electronic items for her own use. The fraud was discovered when employees noticed an increase in the frequency of deliveries from vendors and the use of unusual vendors. After some investigation, it was discovered that the employee would alter thedescription or change the quantity on an invoice in order to explain the cost on the bill.What general internal control weaknesses contributed to this fraud?