Professor L.
Accounting 205

Thieves
While reading case study 1, it is clear that Rex’s actions were extremely unethical. They are not justified just because he was denied a promotion. He cannot steal from the company just because he was denied the promotion. Obviously the company was right not to promote Rex because he is now stealing from them. One can only imagine what would have happened if Rex had been promoted. He may have learned how to steal more from the company.
Rex’s system seems pretty solid, but if the higher up department started questioning other employees, those employees would have no idea who “Sam” is. If the company required direct deposit instead of issuing out checks, it may help with this sort of situation. But Rex can make a fake account with fake ID numbers and get the money wired into his account. Direct deposit is definitely a smarter option for the company to try and stop this type of behavior though.
The company can go about many things to stop this sort of fraud from happening. As this may be inconvenient, the company could hold biweekly or monthly meetings where everybody gets together to talk about the sales and how they are doing. This way the company has a full view of everyone and has an easier way of seeing how Rex has been lying to them. The company should be more vocal with its employees. For a business to strive, I feel that people need to get to know one another so that everyone feels comfortable.
Another way to prevent these types of issues, as mentioned by a writer for CBIA News, is to safeguard payroll. The writer says that “small-business owners and managers should take the extra time to review every payroll check personally. Although time consuming, this procedure provides a monitor to assure employees are being paid appropriately. This can be especially important when a business has temporary and part-time staff. Although not always possible in a small business, certain duties should be maintained separately. For instance, the person who “cuts” or has custody of the checks should never be the person who has authority to sign. The person opening the mail should not record the receivables and reconcile the accounts. Even a small business can take some steps to separate important functions” (CBIANews). This would, for the most part, be an extremely effective action that would stop Rex in his tracks.
While reading case study #2, you can tell what Mr. Silverstein did was wrong. While he may think it is okay to “borrow” money from the company, it is not. Stealing is never acceptable no matter the circumstances. Fortunately for him, Marvin deals with the entire financial book keeping so he knows how to work around the system. And since he had worked for the company over 10 years, he just assumed taking the money would be okay if he put it back later.
While he did not want to ask his boss for a loan (probably due to pride reasons) he really screwed himself in the end. Eventually he will get caught which, more than likely, will result in a termination of his employment. With no job, how will he ever be able to put his son through college? As easy as it was for him to steal the money, he will soon be doing it again. A person who steals but puts the money back is just as bad as somebody who is actually stealing because they have the mindset to do it in the first place. Who is to say he will not come back for more money?
The only thing Marvin had was a good reason. His boss most likely would have given him the loan or a pay advance if he explained his situation with his sons’ college tuition. Even the best reason is not sufficient enough to become a thief.
With these types of cases popping up, companies should have more than one person checking the books periodically. The amount of money smart financial employees can steal may be endless and run the company down the drain. With more than one person double checking each other’s work, it will cause smooth book keepings with no fraudulent activity.
While reading case study #3, it is easy to tell what had happened with Sam. All he really wanted to do was to prove himself to the people/employees. When the numbers started falling and he realized the company would be behind schedule, he looked for a way out. Letting his ego take over himself, he did not realize how this messes with the accounting principles and is not allowed. That is the only unethical part about the case study available, but perhaps this was Sam’s plan all along. He could have possibly known that the stocks would rise. Thus when he got his stock for normal price, he could easily make quite a decent profit off of his own scheme.
The only other people who would get hurt while doing this “plan” would be the company’s stock buyers. If people had bought stock after the inflated price, they will be upset when it shortly after drops again. There are no loopholes while dealing with money. Either the transaction has taken place or it has not. People cannot start making up little deals that will net themselves profit. They need to think in the long run; and not just for them, but for the company as well.
What I have learned by taking this class is that even the trickiest of people will still get caught. If you do not go by the books, something will happen and it can be life changing for you. Once you have money fraud on your record, it is going to be impossible to find another job. Nobody is going to want to employ someone who tries to cheat the company. Doing the right thing every day will get you farther in life.

Works Cited
CBIA.com. CBIANews, May 2007. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.