Preventing Fraud and Mismanagement in Government : Systems and Structures.

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- About the Authors -- Preface -- Introduction -- People are Your Greatest Risk and Your Greatest Asset -- Focus of the Book -- Rules: Do They Stop Fraud and Mismanagement? -- Mird: The Four Criteria to Prove Fraud -- Judgment -- Structures and Systems -- Developing Systems in Structure by Asking the Right Questions -- Agfot (Assisted Gorilla Fraud Observation Techniques) -- Notes -- Chapter 1: Government and How It Works -- Types and Forms of Local Government: An Example from New Jersey -- Politics, Public Operations, and Loss -- Global Forms of Government -- Revenue Functions within Governmental and Public Entities -- The Federal Government -- Fiscal Discipline -- Structure of Federal Debt -- State Governments -- Local Governments -- Public Agencies -- Public Authorities -- Government via Concessions, Franchises, and Contract Work -- Public-Private Partnerships -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Chapter 2: Public Finance and How Government Creates Cash Flow -- Government Finance 101 -- Case Study: Transportation Finance -- The Basic Rules of Forensic Accounting -- Cost of Collection -- Tax Collection Example-Fuel Taxes -- Enforcement and Compliance: Tax Evasion -- Burden of Taxation -- Maturity Mismatching -- Fiscal Federalism -- PFDA -- User Fee versus Tax -- Pigouvian Taxes and Subsidies -- Government Revenue Sources -- Taxes -- Excise Taxes -- Property Taxes -- Personal Income Taxes -- Sales Taxes -- Fine Revenues -- Fees -- Transfer Payments -- Bonding and Borrowing -- Bond Structure -- Revenue Bonds -- General Obligation Bonds -- Core Issue: Government Spending -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Chapter 3: Accounting for Government -- Service Efforts and Accomplishments (SEA) Reporting -- Expectation Gaps -- Management-Driven Motivations -- Double-Entry Accounting.

Modified Accrual Basis -- Government Final Reporting -- Operational and Fiscal Accountability -- Management Discussions and Analysis -- Government Employees' and Officials' Responsibility to Find Inconsistencies and Irregularities -- Parallel Interest Conflicts -- Asset and Liability Recognition in Government -- Statement of Net Position -- Gordon Gecko Accounting -- Interfund Transfers -- Inflow and Outflow of Cash -- Related Statements -- Budgeting and One-Shot Accounting in Government -- Budget Manipulations -- Public and Private Sector -- Monopolistic Control -- Government Intervention (Override) -- The Odd and Unsettling Mix of Public and Private Capital -- AVERT Tool -- Governmental Funds -- Government Funds -- Proprietary Fund -- Fiduciary Fund -- Case Study: Multiple Jobs and Double Dipping -- Future Pension Issues -- Fixed Assets and Long-Term Debts: Self-Balancing Accounts -- Assumption Based -- Principle Based -- Judgment Based -- President Obama's 2015 Proposed Spending -- Ratio and Tables from a Government Perspective -- Financial Ratios -- Government-wide Financial Statements Summary -- Reconciliation of Government-wide and Government Funds Financial Statements (GFFS) -- Financial Statement Communications -- Know Management -- OMB Circular A-123 -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Chapter 4: Who Works in Government and What Is Their Motivation? -- Understanding People -- Government Workers -- Elected Officials -- Delegate Model Versus the Trustee Model of Representation -- Political Appointees -- Bureaucrats -- Nurturing Homegrown Gorillas -- The Care and Feeding of a Gorilla -- Gorilla Hunting, Capture, Control, and Banishment -- The Carrot and the Stick -- A Case Study in Too Much Carrot Eating -- Union Workers -- Unions as Gorillas -- Virtuous Public Servants -- PFDA -- Political Operatives -- Human Resources: The First Line of Defense.

Hiring Process -- Personnel Data -- Policies and Job Descriptions -- Job Descriptions -- Lead by Example -- Employee Relations -- Compensation and Benefits -- Training and Development -- Performance Management -- Payroll -- Typical Types of Frauds -- Segregation of Duties among HR, Payroll (Hiring and Paying), and Accounting -- Time Entry -- Management/Supervisory Review and Approval -- Security and Access Controls -- Human Resources -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Chapter 5: Fraud in Public Agencies: Horse Trading or Stealing? -- Understanding Government Fraud and Mismanagement -- Just How Pervasive Are Fraud and Corruption? -- Why Do Agencies Do What They Do? -- Who Motivates Policy? -- Government and Public Agency Frauds and Mismanagement-Why? -- Types of Government and Public Agency Fraud -- Criminality and Intent versus Ineptitude -- Auditor versus Accountant Understanding -- Quantifiable Evidence -- More Likely Than Not" Standard -- Reasonable Person" Standard -- Identify, Record, and Communicate -- Categories of Waste -- Centralization -- Centralization vs Decentralization of Government/Public Agency Internal Accounting Control -- Money and Power -- How Wealth Distribution Leads to Fraud -- How Donations Can Lead to Fraud -- Political Principles to Prevent Fraud -- Health Care Diversion -- Typical Health Care Frauds -- Improper Payments -- Meals and Entertainment: Directly Connected to a Public Entity's Operations -- Applicable Limitations -- Record-Keeping Requirements -- Churches and Political Campaign Activity -- Common Travel and Expense Reimbursement Fraud Schemes -- Systems and Structures That Can Potentially Prevent Expense Reimbursement Schemes and Abuse -- Bribery, Kickbacks, and Gratuities Frauds -- Making or Using False Statements Frauds -- Companies Conducting Business under Several Names -- Collusive Bidding -- Conspiracy to Defraud.

Disclosure of Proprietary Source Selection Sensitive Information -- Insufficient Delivery of Contracted Items -- Failure to Meet Specifications -- Common Schemes -- Rigging Specification -- Small Purchases Pattern -- Breaking Large Requirements into Smaller Ones -- Duplicate Payment -- Overstatement of Weights and Numbers Ordered -- Patterns in Expense Frauds -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Chapter 6: Corrupt Policies and Actions -- Corruption: Agency Thinking and Inbreeding -- Systematic Risk -- Why Does Wrongdoing Continue to Happen? -- Types of Corruption Found in Government -- Examining Demographic Factors for Corruption Potential -- Size of a Municipality -- Condition of the Local Economy -- Education -- Political Culture of the Municipality -- Corrupt Acts -- Corrupt Act 1: Money Makes the Government/Public Agency World Go Round -- Corrupt Act 2: Entitlement versus Earned (Rights) -- Social Security -- How the U.S. Government Spends -- How People Spend -- Political Risks -- Public Corruption -- Deregulation -- Banking Deregulation -- Energy Deregulation -- Airline Deregulation -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Chapter 7: Policing of Public Corruption and Fraud -- Background on Internal Control -- Distinguishing among Deterrence, Prevention, and Detection -- Back to Analyzing the Risk Beyond Numbers -- Financial Reporting Risk -- Operational Risk -- Compliance Risk -- Worms -- Warnings Operations Revolve Management System (WORMS) -- Policing and Understanding the Enforcement Gaps -- How to Preserve the Evidence of Fraud and Corruption in the Public Entities -- How to Present the Evidence in a Public Entity Fraud or Corruption Case -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Chapter 8: Final Thoughts -- Six Symbolic Shapes of Government: Organizational Symphony -- Fraud Can Happen at Any Time or Place -- First Story: Embezzling from Churches -- Second Story: Dixon, Illinois.

Third Story: Nick's Roast Beef -- The Warning System -- Five Categories of Fraud -- Misstatement of Revenues -- Misstatement of Expenditures -- Misstatement of Assets -- Inadequate Disclosures -- Misappropriation of Assets -- Why Public Entities' Auditors/Accountants Fail to Detect Fraud -- A Simple Fraud Risk Plan for the Public Entity -- Fraud and Mismanagement Types, Signs, and Suggested Actions -- Approval -- Billing -- Cash -- Complaints -- Conflicts-of-Interest Risk -- Contract Bid Award Process: Request for Proposal (RFP) -- Procurement/Purchasing-Bribery and Kickbacks -- Favoritism (Nepotism) -- Information (Disclosure) -- Middleman Fraud and Mismanagement -- Reputation (Rumors) -- Segregation (Overlap, Levels of Trust, Approval) -- Change Orders, Unusual Volume, Late Delivery, Subpar Goods and Services -- Risk Overview and Plan -- Compliance Checklist -- Conclusion -- Final Word -- Notes -- Appendix: Tables -- Index -- EULA.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.