Assume Ethan Lester and Vick Jensen are CPAs. Ethan was seen as a “model employee” who deserved a promotion to director of accounting according to Kelly Fostermann, the CEO of Fostermann Corporation, a Maryland-based, largely privately held company that is a prominent global designer and marketer of stereophonic systems. The company has an eleven person board of directors.
Kelly considered Ethan to be an honest employee based on performance reviews and his unwillingness to accept the promotion, stating that he wasn’t ready yet for the position. Kelly admired his willingness to learn and grow, not just expect a promotion. Little did she know that Ethan was committing a $50,000 fraud during 2018 by embezzling cash from the company. In fact, no one seemed to catch on because Ethan was able to override internal controls. However, the external auditors were coming in and to solidify the deception, he needed the help of Vick Jensen, a close friend who was the accounting manager and also reports to Ethan. Ethan could “order” Vick to cover up the fraud but hoped he would do so out of friendship and loyalty. Besides, Ethan knew Vick had committed his own fraud two years ago and covered it up by creating false journal entries for undocumented sales, returns, transactions, and operating expenses.
Ethan went to see Vick and explained his dilemma. He could see Vick’s discomfort in hearing the news. Vick had thought he had turned the corner on being involved in fraud after he quietly paid back the $20,000 he had stolen two years ago. Here is how the conversation went.
“Vick, I need your help. I blew it. You know Mary and I split up 10 months ago.”
“Yes,” Vick said.
“Well, I got involved with another woman who I tried to impress by buying her things. I wound up taking $50,000 from company funds.”
“Ethan, what were you thinking?”
“Don’t get all moral with me. Don’t you recall your own circumstances?”
Vick was quiet for a moment and then asked, “What do you want me to do?”
“T need you to make some entries in the ledger to cover up the $50,000. I promise to pay it back, just as you did. You know I’m good for it.”
Vick reacted angrily, saying, “You told me to skip the bank reconciliations—that you would do them yourself. I trusted you.”
“I know. Listen, do this one favor for me, and I’ll never ask you again.”
Vick grew increasingly uneasy. He told Ethan he needed to think about it… his relationship with the auditors was at stake.
1. Identify the stakeholders in this case and their interests. Give one example where their interests may coincide, and one example where there may be in conflict.
2. According to the Fraud Triangle depicted in chap 5 of the textbook, what are the pressures or incentives facing Vick Jensen? What opportunity does he have to commit fraud? What rationalizations is he likely to consider?
3. Describe the ethical and professional responsibilities of Vick Jensen by applying Exhibit 3-11 from the textbook to the case. What concrete steps does he need to take?
4. If Jensen agrees to go along with Lester’s request, which provisions of the AICPA code of conduct and the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice (see the most recent version for the IMA at https://www.imanet.org/-/media/b6fbeeb74d964e6c9fe654c48456e61f.ashx) will he be violating? What does Jensen stand to lose?
5. Assume you are Jensen and you decide not to cooperate with Lester’s request. Using the Giving Voice to Values technique (see Mintz & Morris chap 2), write a dialogue between you and the person whom you selected to discuss this situation. Include the following elements in your dialogue:
• What do you need to say, to whom, and in what sequence?
• What will the objections or pushback be?
• What would you say next? What data and other information do you need to make your point and counteract the reasons and rationalizations you will likely have to address?
We provide professional writing services to help you score straight A’s by submitting custom written assignments that mirror your guidelines.
Get result-oriented writing and never worry about grades anymore. We follow the highest quality standards to make sure that you get perfect assignments.
Our writers have experience in dealing with papers of every educational level. You can surely rely on the expertise of our qualified professionals.
Your deadline is our threshold for success and we take it very seriously. We make sure you receive your papers before your predefined time.
Someone from our customer support team is always here to respond to your questions. So, hit us up if you have got any ambiguity or concern.
Sit back and relax while we help you out with writing your papers. We have an ultimate policy for keeping your personal and order-related details a secret.
We assure you that your document will be thoroughly checked for plagiarism and grammatical errors as we use highly authentic and licit sources.
Still reluctant about placing an order? Our 100% Moneyback Guarantee backs you up on rare occasions where you aren’t satisfied with the writing.
You don’t have to wait for an update for hours; you can track the progress of your order any time you want. We share the status after each step.
Although you can leverage our expertise for any writing task, we have a knack for creating flawless papers for the following document types.
Although you can leverage our expertise for any writing task, we have a knack for creating flawless papers for the following document types.
From brainstorming your paper's outline to perfecting its grammar, we perform every step carefully to make your paper worthy of A grade.
Hire your preferred writer anytime. Simply specify if you want your preferred expert to write your paper and we’ll make that happen.
Get an elaborate and authentic grammar check report with your work to have the grammar goodness sealed in your document.
You can purchase this feature if you want our writers to sum up your paper in the form of a concise and well-articulated summary.
You don’t have to worry about plagiarism anymore. Get a plagiarism report to certify the uniqueness of your work.
Join us for the best experience while seeking writing assistance in your college life. A good grade is all you need to boost up your academic excellence and we are all about it.
We create perfect papers according to the guidelines.
We seamlessly edit out errors from your papers.
We thoroughly read your final draft to identify errors.
Work with ultimate peace of mind because we ensure that your academic work is our responsibility and your grades are a top concern for us!
Dedication. Quality. Commitment. Punctuality
Here is what we have achieved so far. These numbers are evidence that we go the extra mile to make your college journey successful.
We have the most intuitive and minimalistic process so that you can easily place an order. Just follow a few steps to unlock success.
We understand your guidelines first before delivering any writing service. You can discuss your writing needs and we will have them evaluated by our dedicated team.
We write your papers in a standardized way. We complete your work in such a way that it turns out to be a perfect description of your guidelines.
We promise you excellent grades and academic excellence that you always longed for. Our writers stay in touch with you via email.