John Adams is the manager at a local store. The store opened four years ago and has been doing very well. With current business growing, John decided to hire Peter O’Riley to work as an accountant. When Peter started working at the store, he found several things that appeared unusual. For example, six receiving documents have been lost, the general ledger is out of balance, one customer has complained that he is continually overcharged, and another customer complains that he does not receive timely service. John lives in an expensive house and has several beautiful sports cars.
Discuss whether fraud could be occurring. Does evidence of fraud exist, or are only fraud symptoms present?