From the handouts, Ben Hill is the possible perpetrator I suspect most. The clue to make this conclusion is that he’s “all over” the TBC’s work. My following analysis is based on the fraud triangle.
As regards to opportunity, Ben is the office manager and he has multiple authorities over the company’s operations including transaction verification and cash handling. It’s easy for him to perpetrate a fraud. The most obvious opportunity for him to commit a fraud is in purchasing equipment. Because Ben recently changed a vendor to Charlie Thurgood, who has a close relationship with him, it’s suspicious that they may collude with each other. When purchasing the equipment, Ben has access to the purchasing order which is “open”. He can possibly change the ordered quantity and ask Charlie to change the invoices which Charlie will personally drop with Michelle. It’s Ben who is the only person authorizes the purchase as well as the payment. There is no segregation of duties in this purchasing process. Besides Ben is the person responsible for hiring temporary employees and verifying the timesheet and checking. It’s also easy for him to add more employees who actually don’t exist. Moreover, Ben verifies the ticket log and keeps the money overnight. There is a chance for him to steal money from it too. The pressure making him to plot fraudulent schemes may come from his family background which shows he has “a bunch of ex-wives.” There is a possibility he needs to get money to afford the alimony. As an office manager, Ben contributes his efforts to make sure smooth operations. He may rationalize his behavior for his hard work.
As I mentioned above, the vendor Ben recently changed, Charlie Thurgood, may be the person with whom Ben colludes with. That Charlie Thurgood personally delivers the equipment and drops off the invoice may be the sign of his possible fraudulent behavior. He may do so as Ben tells him and thus earns money from the collusion. The responsibility to increase his sales of equipment could push Charlie to take advantage of this opportunity with Ben. He may think it as nothing serious but just helping a good friend and himself.
Phil Ackers is another perpetrator. Although he is less suspicious as Ben for he is not around the company as much as Ben does, he can get benefit from his frequent promotional trips. He may forge invoices for larger amount for plane tickets, hotel expense or dinners. As Sam mentioned, Phil is “a nervous little fellow”. Therefore Phil’s possible fraud can be attributed to his mental pressure in his position as a Company President. In order to maintain good performance of the company, it’s not doubtful that the great responsibilities on Phil’s shoulder would make Phil too stressful to do something wrong. As a president he may rationalize that he deserves more than he earned.
The Fourth possible perpetrator I suspect is Michelle Shelton. With every financial function, she is the person responsible for the company’s recording system and bookkeeping and also the cash payment. When purchasing equipment, she has overlapping duties of generating purchasing order and receiving order. These should not be done by a person. Duties should be separated in case Michelle falsifies any changes to steal money. In terms of pressure, it’s difficult for Michelle to resist the temptation of material benefit, especially when she deals with money every day. Another source of her pressure may come from her uncle Tucker Johnson. She may want to live up to her uncle and other colleagues’ expectations and force herself to perfect her job. Under this kind of pressure, she needs to find an outlet for her own suffers. Trying something she never tries before could provide her with the thrill feeling to make the risky move. Because of her uncle, guys are afraid of asking her out, which limits Michelle’s social life. To “get back” to the company for what she lost, she may regard her behavior as appropriate.
The last perpetrator I think would be Terri Hughes. As people approaches to Acker’s office, Terri guards the office and nips people’s heel right out of the office. The reason Terri remains on alert against any visitors could be that he is aware of some secrets hiding in that office. I guess another collusion is happening between Phil Ackers and Terri Hughes. As an assistant to the President, Terri has more opportunities to talk to the president and obtain more information than anyone else. Furthermore, Terri and Ackers are the two people in charge of fundraising. During Ackers’ fundraising trip, the expenses incurred are verified by Terri and the receipts are forwarded by Terri. He may notice something if Phil Ackers is really claiming larger amount. That’s why I suspect collusion. Chances are that Terri is forced to do so under the pressure of the President. He would be afraid of offending Phil Ackers if he doesn’t do so. He may rationalize his behavior that in essence he is not the main lawbreaker but Phil Acker is. He is just doing what Phil tells him to do.
According to the Fraud Statistics, men have a higher chance to commit fraud than women. It applies to TBC because four of the five suspects are men. Secondly, manager and employee are more frequent to commit a fraud than the person in higher position because of less supervision from top to the bottom. Ben is the manager and Michelle and Terri are the employees. They fit the traits of position of perpetrators. Thirdly, more perpetrators are found in the age range from 36-45. From the handouts we can know the fact that Ben is around 40 is in accordance with the statistics.
We can analyze the five perpetrators’ behavior with the theories of crime causation as follows. The Routine Activity Theory applies to Ben and Phil. Ben is motivated by the lust and greed to get more money from the law-breaking behavior. He is the financially-challenged employee in TBC and the absence of capable guardians over his authority gives him a loophole to commit a fraud. Phil is also motivated by his greed and availability of opportunity for him to get money. The Conditioning Theory fits for Michelle’s psychological theme. She expresses her aggression by getting back at the company and her uncle. By doing so, she will “alleviate the frustration and allow the organism to return to a more satisfactory state.” The Classic Theory applies to Charlie and Terri. If the collusions do exist, they elect to engage in the criminal behavior at their will because the gains from the criminal behavior are attractive and appealing to them.

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[ 1 ]. Criminology: Theories of Crime Causation
[ 2 ]. Criminology: Theories of Crime Causation