1. How would you answer the assistant controller?
2. What advice would you give to the controller?
3. What aspects of the organization’s governance process and/or internal controls were flawed?
4. Should the directors be told about the fraud and/or any other matters?

I am the assistant controller at a medium-sized, not-for-profit organization. I hired a new accounts payable clerk three months ago—let’s call her Mary, which is not her real name—and then I fired her last week because she stole $16,583 from us by altering six checks. Mary’s primary duties were to key in all the accounts payable information, and then, after the checks were printed, to match all the supporting documentation to each check. She then took the checks to the signing officers. After they were signed, she mailed the checks and filed the yellow copy with all the supporting documentation in the paid invoices filing cabinet.