Case Study: The All-American Girl Katie Jordon was the “all-American Girl Next Door” that got in way over her head when she turned to fraud to cover her bills in the midst of hard times (Wells, 2014). Like many who steal from their employer with intentions of paying them back, Katie became just another case of one bad decision that led to another (Wells, 2014). By the time she was caught, she had stolen over $65,000 (Wells, 2014). “What measures could have been taken to prevent the fraud committed by Katie Jordan or detect it earlier?” (class question) Aramis Properties could have taken preventative measures to deter fraud by installing controls that separated duties. Duties associated with payroll and hiring should not be performed by the same person. This allows for the opportunity to place a “ghost” employee on the payroll as was seen in this case with Katie
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The tenants and staff could be used to verify the vacancy or occupancy of units that Katie had been using to skim funds from. Furthermore, reports could be run to show inconsistencies in rental payments made by tenants. Discussions with tenants that may have in the past paid in cash could lead to further information as to which units Katie was skimming off of. Also, usually when you end a lease there is documentation that the lease has ended including a final walk-through. These could be used as documents that verify which units she was calling vacant yet were actually occupied.
Aramis Properties put a lot of trust into Katie Jordon. Although Katie never originally intended to break that trust, when things went south in her life, the opportunity to fix them was available by the lack of controls that Aramis Properties had. Under the right circumstances, anyone is capable of committing fraud and companies need to be aware that even the most trusted employee is susceptible in the right
The tenants and staff could be used to verify the vacancy or occupancy of units that Katie had been using to skim funds from. Furthermore, reports could be run to show inconsistencies in rental payments made by tenants. Discussions with tenants that may have in the past paid in cash could lead to further information as to which units Katie was skimming off of. Also, usually when you end a lease there is documentation that the lease has ended including a final walk-through. These could be used as documents that verify which units she was calling vacant yet were actually occupied.
Aramis Properties put a lot of trust into Katie Jordon. Although Katie never originally intended to break that trust, when things went south in her life, the opportunity to fix them was available by the lack of controls that Aramis Properties had. Under the right circumstances, anyone is capable of committing fraud and companies need to be aware that even the most trusted employee is susceptible in the right