Audtheo Philippine Case
Audtheo Philippine Case
Audtheo Philippine Case
Department of Accountancy
A case study on
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Two Bank of the Philippine Islands employees have been separately sued by their
employers for theft in the Manila Regional Trial Court. On June 3, six counts of qualified theft
were filed against Jay San Rafael, a former BPI relationship manager and Diane Barit, a BPI
teller.
Jay San Rafael worked in the BPI Morayta Branch for 15 years. He was said to have
broken the bank’s trust by setting up an automated teller machine (ATM) account for a customer
without him knowing it. From that customer’s account, he diverted almost P3M which he
withdrew in varying amounts from January to August 2011. When he was confronted, he denied
the accusation and said that it was all just a mistake. However, the city prosecutor approved the
filing of charges against him and recommended no bail for the case.
On the other hand, Diane Barit, a BPI Remedios branch teller, allegedly forged the
signature of a client to illegally withdraw $250 from the client’s account. Assistant City
Prosecutor Rommelia Quiming-Baguio set her bail at P30,000.
Company Background
In 1939, the the Philippine legislature passed a law establishing a central bank. Because it
was a monetary law, it required the approval of the United States president. However, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt disapproved it due to strong opposition from vested interests. A second
law was passed in 1944 during the Japanese occupation, but the arrival of the American
liberalization forces halted its implementation.
Not long after President Manuel Roxas assumed office in 1946, he instructed Finance
Secretary Miguel Cuaderno, Sr. to draw up a charter for a central bank. As a result of the
findings of the Joint Philippine-American Finance Commission chaired by Mr. Cuaderno, the
establishment of a monetary authority became imperative a year later. The Commission, which
studied Philippine financial, monetary and fiscal problems in 1947, suggested a shift from the
dollar exchange standard to a managed currency system. A central bank was needed to
implement the proposed reformation of the currency system.
The Central Bank Council, created by President Manuel Roxas to prepare the charter of a
proposed monetary authority, immediately produced a draft, which was submitted to the
Congress in February 1948. In June 1948, the bill was signed into a law as Republic Act 265 by
President Elpidio Quirino. On November 29 1972, the Presidential Decree No. 72 adopted the
recommendations of the Joint IMF-CB Banking Survey Commission which made a study of the
Philippine banking system. The Commission proposed a program designed to ensure the
system’s soundness and healthy growth.
On June 14 1993, President Fidel V. Ramos signed into law Republic Act No. 7653, the
New Central Bank Act, in accordance with a provision in the 1987 Constitution. The law
provides for the establishment of an independent monetary authority to be known as the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas, with the maintenance of price stability explicitly stated as its primary
objective. This objective was only implied in the old Central Bank charter. The law also gives
the Bangko Sentral fiscal and administrative autonomy which the old Central Bank did not have.
On 3 July 1993, the New Central Bank Act took effect (BSP, n.d.).
Review of Related Literature
Fraud
Fraud is “a false representation of a material fact made by one party to another party with
the intent to deceive and induce the other party to justifiably rely on the fact to his or her
detriment.” (Hall, 2008).
Financial losses from fraud are difficult to measure due to a number of reasons:
In considering how to manage fraud risk, prevention is always better than cure. The
design, implementation and maintenance of internal controls that can prevent, detect and correct
fraud is required to reduce fraud risk. The support and compliance of company owners and
managers with all company policies and procedures enforced to manage fraud risk is required to
minimize this risk. In order for internal controls to be effective and successful, they must be
visible and integrated into the daily operations of the business and there must be proper
disciplinary action taken for fraudulent acts of employees (CPA Australia Ltd, 2011).
1. Lead by example
All members in the company, regardless of position or superiority, must comply with all
company policies and procedures and be held responsible for their actions (CPA Australia Ltd,
2011).
Policies and procedures must be documented, they must be accessible to employees and
employees must be trained to adhere to them. Reports on the execution of the policies and
procedures must be made to senior management regularly. There should be no condonance to
violations and adherence to company policies and procedures must be included in the conditions
to be hired as an employee (CPA Australia Ltd, 2011).
It must be clearly stated in the company’s code of conduct that no fraudulent activities
will be tolerated on any business level and that any fraudulent act or behavior will be reported to
the police. It must also be clearly stated in the company’s code of conduct what constitutes
employee fraud because this is usually a gray area for employees (CPA Australia Ltd, 2011).
5. Segregation of duties
The responsibility for a complete transaction from beginning to end should not be given
to one employee only. For small companies, where there is impractical, employees who take
charge of company funds must be subject to close and strict supervision (CPA Australia Ltd,
2011).
6. Authorization controls
Policies that clearly state person or persons who are authorized to enter into transactions
on behalf of the company and who are accountable for each step that a transaction goes through
(including who are authorized to permit payments over certain amounts and conducting
transactions) (CPA Australia Ltd, 2011).
A company must have a whistleblowing policy that outlines that steps to be taken by an
employee if he suspects misconduct or fraud. In addition to the whistleblowing policy, a process
or procedure that permits employees to anonymously report concerns about potential fraud is
recommended. It is important that employees are knowledgeable about the negative or adverse
consequences of whistleblowing. Management must also show that the follow up on all issues
raised by employees through the whistleblowing mechanism (CPA Australia Ltd, 2011).
The roles and responsibilities of all employees must be clearly defined. This could
include: job descriptions, separation of duties, compulsory job rotations, authorization policy and
leave (CPA Australia Ltd, 2011).
There are a number of employee behavior that may indicate that an increased probability
that an employee is carrying out fraud:
The employee frequently works outside of business hours and seldom takes leave. Even
though he may look like industrious in doing his job, they may have ulterior motives for
being in the workplace unmonitored.
The employee seems to be spending or living too far his means.
Reports and reconciliations are not done.
Tax returns and other compliance forms are not filed on time (CPA Australia Ltd, 2011).
Close and strong supervision is very important, especially in small companies that may
have a hard time in separating duties. This can include approval, review, authorizations and
infrequent spot checks which may include redoing work (CPA Australia Ltd, 2011).
Physical access to sites or properties, cash registers, computer systems, safes and other
secure systems must be controlled. For example:
Ensure that doors, desks and filing cabinets are locked and secured
Implement systems that report on employee activity, such as the viewing and alteration of
data in the database
Consider installing electronic surveillance systems (CPA Australia Ltd, 2011).
Gather all the facts necessary to make informed decisions through an in-depth and
prompt investigation of breaches of policies and procedures, allegations of fraud, and red flags of
fraud (CPA Australia Ltd, 2011).
15. Others
1. Pressure Factors
Pressure is a financial or emotional force that leads someone to commit fraud. Most
people need some form of pressure to commit fraud. It does not matter whether the pressure
makes sense to others or not. (Brumell Group, 2015). Pressure factors can include:
Greediness
Aspiration to live a good life
Mounting personal liabilities
Mounting medical bills
Unforeseen monetary needs (O¨zkul & Pamukc¸u, 2012)
2. Opportunity Factors
Opportunity is the ability to commit fraud without getting caught (Brumell Group, 2015).
To commit fraud, fraud perpetrators first find an opportunity and exploit that opportunity to carry
out the fraudulent act. The opportunity to commit fraud can arise if the company members have
access to assets and information that opens up a way for them to both commit and cover up
fraud. When a company has poor or defective internal controls, weak processes and procedures,
unauthorized or unchecked access to its assets and information, and ineffective management
oversight, fraud is likely to occur (Glasbeek, n.d.). Opportunity factors can include:
3. Rationalization
Misappropriation of Assets
Misappropriation of assets happens when people who are assigned to take charge of the
assets of a company steal from it (Asset misappropriation fraud, n.d.). It happens when a
fraudster employs deception to steal or misuse a company’s resources (Albrecht, Kranacher &
Albrecht, n.d.). It is also known as insider fraud. It involves third parties or employees in a
company take advantage of their position to steal assets from the company through fraudulent
activities (Asset misappropriation fraud, n.d.).
1. Misappropriation of cash
2. Theft of non-cash assets (Albrecht, Kranacher & Albrecht, n.d.)
1. Skimming
Skimming involves acts by which funds are taken before they have been entered into the
company’s accounting records. This may be done at the point of sale, from receivables and from
refunds (Albrecht, Kranacher & Albrecht, n.d.). This is an off-book type of fraud because the
company never receives a report on the receipt of cash (Association of Certified Fraud
Examiners, n.d.). The most common schemes of skimming are:
Unrecorded sales
Understated sales
Stealing of incoming checks
Swapping of checks for cash (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, n.d.).
Detection of skimming:
Detection at the receipt or sales level
o Physical inventory count
Review of journal entries
o False credits to inventory to cover up unrecorded or unstated sales
o Lost, stolen or obsolete inventory write-offs
o Accounts receivable write-offs
o Irregular entries to cash
Detection of lapping
o Comparison of dates when the customers paid and dates when the payments were
posted (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2016).
Prevention of skimming:
Installation of visible video cameras in all locations where employees take charge of cash
Reconciliation of physical inventory count with perpetual inventory records to uncover
shrinkage
2. Cash larceny
Cash larceny includes acts by which funds are stolen after they have been recorded.
Usually, the funds stolen come from the cash on hand, such as from the cash register or the petty
cash fund, or from deposits (Albrecht, Kranacher & Albrecht, n.d.). This is an on-books type of
fraud because it is the theft of cash that has already been recorded in the company’s accounting
records (Dervaes, 2005).
Prevention of skimming:
Segregation of duties
o Cash receipts
o Cash disbursements
o Bank deposits
3. Fraudulent disbursements
Through fraud prevention, companies can save themselves from losses due to asset
misappropriation fraud. Most companies have established preventive controls but even the best
controls cannot prevent all fraud from happening, because any person with a perceived pressure,
opportunity and an ability to justify their fraudulent actions can carry out fraud. Even if
companies believe that their employees are honest, they should still take a proactive approach to
fraud prevention (Albrecht, Kranacher & Albrecht, n.d.).
Creating a culture of honesty, openness, and assistance for all employees include:
1. Recruiting honest people and providing fraud awareness training programs
2. Creating a positive workplace
3. Implementing effective employee assistance programs (Albrecht, Kranacher & Albrecht,
n.d.)
Fraud detection involves identifying and and looking up into warning signals of fraud.
The warning signals of asset misappropriation are broken down into six categories:
1. Accounting irregularities, such as faulty journal entries, inaccurate ledgers, or fake
documents
2. Overriding and breaking down of internal controls
3. Analytical fraud symptoms, which include procedures or relationships that don’t make
sense or that appear to be unreasonable
4. Lifestyle symptoms (people who commit fraud gradually start to live beyond their means)
5. Behavioral symptoms (people who are engaged in fraud exhibit certain behavioral traits
or characteristics, such as stress)
6. Tips and complaints about suspicions of fraud (Albrecht, Kranacher & Albrecht, n.d.)
According to the 2014 Report to the Nations published by the Association of Certified
Fraud Examiners (“ACFE”) , a typical organization approximately loses 5 percent of its revenue
to fraud every year. Because fraud involves schemes of concealing it, many cases of it will never
be detected. Although asset misappropriation produces the lowest average losses, it still accounts
for the vast majority of fraud activity. According to ACFE’s study, companies that had
implemented these anti-fraud controls experienced lower losses than companies that had not
implemented them:
Although petty cash funds represent an immaterial amount of cash held by a company,
generally used for small daily expenses, petty cash irregularities may be red flag of broader
issues regarding management’s approach to the company’s internal controls and control
environment. Sequentially numbered vouchers should be kept as well as disbursement receipts
with the disbursement date, amount, purpose, and employee name to strengthen the processes
surrounding the petty cash fund. Also, the custodian of petty cash should maintain a
reconciliation of the petty cash fund, reconciling total cash on hand plus outstanding receipts to
the total petty cash maximum. There should also be limited access to the petty cash fund, with
the funds kept in a locked box. Management may ask for a periodic independent audit of petty
cash fund to test compliance with company policies and procedures (Prevention of fraud through
effective internal controls, n.d.).
Reaction
When I read this news, I’m not really that surprised that the two employees committed
fraud. Because they have access to the bank’s cash and the clients’ accounts, they have great
opportunities and are more prone to commit fraud.
Banks are susceptible to fraud because these are where large volumes of money are kept.
Fraudsters are now craftier in designing their methods or procedures to circumvent the controls.
The main incentive of fraudsters is the monetary gain they can obtain.
I learned that monitoring transactions is very important in banks. Banks should design
processes that trigger an alert in the case of unusual transactions in order to improve their ability
to prevent and detect fraud.
I also learned that reconciling bank accounts and transactions on a timely basis is very
important in banks. This will help the bank detect transactions that are suspicious and that didn’t
really occur.
Albrecht, C., Kranacher M., & Albrecht S. (n.d.). Asset Misappropriation Research White Paper
for the Institute for Fraud Prevention. Retrieved from http://theifp.org/research-
grants/IFP-Whitepaper-5.pdf
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. (n.d.). Chapter 6 Payroll schemes. Retrieved from
http://slideplayer.com/slide/8916432/
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. (n.d.). Module 6 Check tampering schemes. Retrieved
from http://www.acfe.com/risk-assessment-m6.aspx
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. (n.d.). Module 8 Purchasing and billing schemes.
Retrieved from http://www.acfe.com/risk-assessment-m8.aspx
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. (n.d.). Module 9 Payroll schemes. Retrieved from
http://www.acfe.com/risk-assessment-m9.aspx
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (n.d). Creating a central bank for the Philippines. Retrieved from
http://www.bsp.gov.ph/about/history.asp
CPA Australia Ltd. (2011). Employee fraud. A guide to reducing the risk of employee fraud and
what to do after a fraud is detected. Retrieved from
https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/~/media/corporate/allfiles/document/professional-
resources/business/employee-fraud.pdf
Ernst & Young, LLP. Asset misappropriation/ fraud. Retrieved from https://www.icpak.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/08/DAY-1-SESSION-2-Presentation-on-Asset-Misappropriation-
John-Ekadah.pdf
Glasbeek, L. (n.d.). The fraud triangle and what auditors can do about it. Retrieved from
https://algaonline.org/index.aspx?NID=417
Hall, J. (2008). Accounting information systems. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Pub
O¨zkul, F. & Pamukc¸u, A. (2012). Emerging fraud. Fraud cases from emerging economies.
Caliyurt, KT: Idowu, SO
Sauler, E. (2013). Bank sues workers for stealing from clients. Retrieved from
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/420649/bank-sues-workers-for-stealing-from-clients
Short, M. (2009). Fraud risk management and its nexus with anti-corruption and FCPA
compliance in Asia. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/tony.ridley/fraud-risk-
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