Plutonium: Credit Card and Chris
Running Head: PLUTONIUM COMPANY
Week 3 Case Study: Plutonium Company Fraud
Kyle Harrison
Keller Graduate School of Management
AC 572: Accounting Fraud Examination Concepts
Instructor Sherwin Cord
January 25, 2009
Week 3 Case Study: Plutonium Company Fraud Plutonium, an Internet start-up company founded in 1988, was in the midst of a massive project to improve integration and internal data quality of its disparate information systems. At the heart of this project was an endeavor to implement a complex billing system called Gateway. Gateway, working with Visa, would automate billing for Plutonium’s large customer base; however, once implemented, Gateway had thousands of corrupt accounts that needed to be resolved in order to improve the system’s data integrity. Jonathan, Plutonium’s operations manager, was tasked to fix these corrupt accounts. After six to nine months, Jonathan noticed that his top and most trusted performer on the task, Chris, was acting suspiciously and had recently acquired several high dollar electronic items. Unbeknownst to Jonathan, Chris was committing employee fraud right under his nose. All three elements of the fraud triangle were present in this case. Beginning with perceived pressure, Albrecht, Albrecht, & Albrecht (2006) state that “most pressures involve a financial need, although nonfinancial pressures . . . can also motivate fraud” (p. 31). Chris certainly faced financial pressures to commit fraud. Financially, Chris was trying to support his entire family on only $15 per hour and probably had plenty of bills and personal debt to deal with. Moreover, Chris was trying to put himself through college. On top of all this, I think Chris felt a need to uphold his “techie” image, meaning he had to live beyond his means to afford the latest technological gadgets. Chris also faced nonfinancial pressures to commit fraud. From a work-related perspective, Chris received little recognition for his exemplary job performance
Week 3 Case Study: Plutonium Company Fraud
Kyle Harrison
Keller Graduate School of Management
AC 572: Accounting Fraud Examination Concepts
Instructor Sherwin Cord
January 25, 2009
Week 3 Case Study: Plutonium Company Fraud Plutonium, an Internet start-up company founded in 1988, was in the midst of a massive project to improve integration and internal data quality of its disparate information systems. At the heart of this project was an endeavor to implement a complex billing system called Gateway. Gateway, working with Visa, would automate billing for Plutonium’s large customer base; however, once implemented, Gateway had thousands of corrupt accounts that needed to be resolved in order to improve the system’s data integrity. Jonathan, Plutonium’s operations manager, was tasked to fix these corrupt accounts. After six to nine months, Jonathan noticed that his top and most trusted performer on the task, Chris, was acting suspiciously and had recently acquired several high dollar electronic items. Unbeknownst to Jonathan, Chris was committing employee fraud right under his nose. All three elements of the fraud triangle were present in this case. Beginning with perceived pressure, Albrecht, Albrecht, & Albrecht (2006) state that “most pressures involve a financial need, although nonfinancial pressures . . . can also motivate fraud” (p. 31). Chris certainly faced financial pressures to commit fraud. Financially, Chris was trying to support his entire family on only $15 per hour and probably had plenty of bills and personal debt to deal with. Moreover, Chris was trying to put himself through college. On top of all this, I think Chris felt a need to uphold his “techie” image, meaning he had to live beyond his means to afford the latest technological gadgets. Chris also faced nonfinancial pressures to commit fraud. From a work-related perspective, Chris received little recognition for his exemplary job performance
References: Albrecht, W. S., Albrecht, C. C., & Albrecht, C. O. (2006). Fraud examination (2nd ed.). Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western.