Comptroller, Horse Lady, & Crook

Katelynn Cameron

Comptroller, Horse Lady, and Crook

Purpose of the reading

The purpose of this reading was to show how asset misappropriation of fraudulent disbursements happens. Fraudulent disbursement is when an employee is distributing company funds for non-business purposes. In this reading this happened when Rita Crundwell started to use the company money market account to transfer funds to other various city bank accounts. After moving money to these other accounts, it was then transferred to an account Rita set up in which she was c/o for. She was then using this money for non-business purposes such as purchasing a motor home, expenses relating to her horse business, and jewelry.

What you learned from the reading

After reading this case there are different

How the reading contributes to your knowledge of accounting, auditing and/or forensics

There were very obvious signs of fraud opportunities that were going on within the City of Dixon. Included in this would be that there was no segregation of incompatible duties. Rita was able to transferring money, write checks, and authorize payments. These should all be done be done by separate people so that there is internal control to prevent fraud. Another fraud opportunity that the City of Dixon had was not having proper oversight of finances. Rita was able to just explain to the city officials how the state owes the city money, which is why it was having financial shortfalls, and they trusted her word. The city also did not include the Management’s Discussion and Analysis section in the audit reports. I think this was because the city was unsure of its financial situation.

What you do/don’t like about each reading

Overall I enjoyed this reading. I had never heard of this case before and it kept me interested. It was fascinating how after so many years of nothing being suspected, taking an extra long vacation was the whole reason she even got caught. Then once she was caught it took pretty much no...