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 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.

CONCEPTS IN FED.TAX.,2020-W/ACCESS

20th Edition

ISBN:9780357110362

Author:Murphy

Publisher:Murphy

Chapter5: Introduction To Business Expenses

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 33P

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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.
8. DIGITAL 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.
Nino Moscardi, president of Greater Providence Deposit & Trust (GPD&T), received an anonymous note in his mail stating that a bank employee was making bogus loans. Moscardi asked the bank’s internal auditors to investigate the transactions detailed in the note. The investigation led to James Guisti, manager of a North Providence branch office and a trusted 14-year employee who had once worked as one of the bank’s internal auditors. Guisti was charged with embezzling $1.83 million from the bank using 67 phony loans taken out over a three-year period. Court documents revealed that the bogus loans were 90-day notes requiring no collateral and ranging in amount from $10,000 to $63,500. Guisti originated the loans; when each one matured, he would take out a new loan, or rewrite the old one, to pay the principal and interest due. Some loans had been rewritten five or six times. The 67 loans were taken out by Guisti in five names, including his wife’s maiden name, his father’s name,…
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?
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) Office of Special Investigations was responsible for investigating a potential purchase fraud case. The man who allegedly committed the fraud was Mark J. Krenik, a former civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force. Mr. Krenik was the Air Force's technical representative on contracts with Hughes STX. Hughes STX provided hardware, software maintenance, technical support, and training to the Air Force. Part of Mr. Krenik's alleged fraud included opening accounts under his control at banks in Maryland. The accounts were opened under the names Hughes STX and ST Systems Corporation. A section of the GAO report on this fraud investigation reads as follows: On December 15, 1992, Mr. Krenik opened post office box 215 in Vienna, Virginia, in his own name. On December 24, 1992, Mr. Krenik delivered to the Air Force Finance Office 11 bogus invoices totaling $504,941.19. Accompanying the invoices were the respective DD‐250s, on which Mr. Krenik had falsely…
While assistant treasurer of Travco Corporation, Frank Mitchell caused two checks, each payable to a fictitious company, to be drawn on Travco’s account with Brown City Savings Bank. In each case, Mitchell indorsed the check in his own name and then cashed it at Citizens Federal Savings & Loan Association of Port Huron. Both checks were cleared through normal banking channels and charged against Travco’s account with Brown City. Travco subsequently discovered the embezzlement, and after Citizens denied its demand for reimbursement, Travco brought a suit against Citizens. Is the indorsement effective? Explain.
Rohini works as an accountant with PQR Ltd. She embezzled $20,000 from the company bank account. She was caught in the annual audit of the company. She justified her action saying that her employer has not given any pay rise, so she had to take $20,000 from the account. Explain in your own words the internal control that may have failed in the above situation. Also explain which element of the fraud triangle Rohini is referring to justify her action.
Jane Ellerby and Sam Callison are discussing the recent fraud that occurred at LowRental Leasing, Inc. The fraud involved the improper reporting of revenue to ensure that the company would have income in excess of $1 million. What is fraudulent financial reporting, and how does it differ from an embezzlement of company funds?
Upon hearing that you are enrolled in a fraud class, a manager of a local business asks, “I don’t understand what is happening with all these major scandals such as the Bernie Madoff scandal, the Goldman Sachs accusations, and the Enron fraud. There are billions of dollars being stolen and manipulated. How can any good auditornot notice when billions of dollars are missing?” How would you respond?
On February 15, 2022, Kate Collins, owner of Kate’s Cards, asks you to investigate the cash han- dling activities in her business. She believes that a new employee might be stealing funds. “I have no proof,” she says, “but I’m fairly certain that the January 31, 2022, undeposited receipts amounted to more than $12,000, although the January 31 bank reconciliation prepared by the cashier (who works in the treasurer’s department) shows only $7,238.40. Also, the January bank reconciliation doesn’t show several checks that have been outstanding for a long time. The cashier told me that these checks needn’t appear on the reconciliation because he had notified the bank to stop payment on them and he had made the necessary adjustment on the books. Does that sound reasonable to you?” At your request, Kate shows you the following (unaudited) January 31, 2022, bank reconciliation prepared by the cashier: KATE’S CARDS Bank Reconciliation January 31, 2022 Ending balance from bank statement . . . $…
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?