Who is to blame for this fraud?

5 Comments

  • Daniel - 8 years ago

    Excellent points. But, what's NOT known is that since she plead guilty, there was no trial. Since there was no trial, it afforded the dealership owner to dump the money HE took on to her amount she first admitted to taking. Think of it, can someone REALLY spend that much money in that short of time? YOU broke it down yourself. Another fact many don't know, the SAME auditor that checked the books during her tenure at the dealership (you know, the one who should have caught this), the company HIRED as their CFO several months after the case was closed. So, of course the company wasn't going to say anything; THEY were stealing as well. Some points I thought you'd be interested in; because it's my mother who had the guts to turn herself in while the owner of the dealership got off free.

  • Paul McCormack - 12 years ago

    Hi Mark,

    You hit all the high points... Funny you should mention the holding of new deposits. I actually managed that department for a regional bank. I agree that banks are quick to hold "normal" deposits and may be not as quick to pick up on moderately complex fraud. I could bore you with why that is often the case, but suffice to say, fraud still happens!

    Appreciate the comment! Thank you.

    Paul

  • Mark Elder - 12 years ago

    A truly stunning case of oversight on the part on both the Dealership Management and the Bank.
    At the very least the Bank should have picked up on the frequent and unusual pattern of ACH transfers from a commercial bank to the private account of a single person.
    I can't deposit a check for $5K in my account without a letter from Citi saying they are going to sit on it for 3-5 business days while they review it. Yet this controller drained millions undetected.

    The Dealer is at fault for not having some kind of maker/checker control on the accounts. This dealership must have had some kind of cash pile lying around for the controller to be able to siphon money for so long undetected. The Executive of this dealership much have trusted the Controller completely not to have taken an interest in the books once in a while.

  • Paul McCormack - 12 years ago

    Excellent points Carley! Cash flow analysis may have potentially uncovered the fraud. I wonder how much cash moved through the dealership on a weekly basis...

    Thanks for taking the time to read and comment!

  • Carley - 12 years ago

    These circumstances beg the question: Where were the auditors? This is on both sides of the transactions. The bank auditors did not notice over 800 transactions from a business to a personal account? The company did not notice their less than stellar cash performance? Did anyone check the cash flow statements or controls over cash? In a dealership environment, cash is king - you cannot survive without it. In addition, did her lifestyle not seem odd to anyone who worked with her?

Leave a Comment

0/4000 chars


Submit Comment