Alienating Customers?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Microsoft confirmed it will acquire the studio that created the hit “sandbox” game Minecraft for $2.5 billion, a move that could help bolster the company’s Xbox and mobile ambitions. Questions: 1. According to the article, how does this acquisition strengthen Microsoft’s battle with other technology driven companies? 2. Why does the video hypothesize that Microsoft… Read more »

Payroll Accounting Fraud

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

A former accountant for the University of Sioux Falls has been indicted for wire fraud for reportedly collecting more than $25,200 in unearned paychecks. Brent Alan Fowler, 52, faces 20 counts of wire fraud for individual payroll deposits. Questions: 1. What is the potential jail time for Mr. Fowler, if he receives the maximum punishment?… Read more »

The Justice System and The Costs of Being Poor

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According to Mr. Edsall, the new growth industry, on the backs of the poor, seems to be private probation, correctional, and detention companies. In fact, Corrections Corporation of America, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and reported revenues of $1.69 billion in 2013. Questions: 1. This collection of private probation companies and the… Read more »

Rip Off: We Work Hard for the Money!

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Although Guadalupe Rangel worked nearly 70 hours per week, he never saw any overtime pay at the Schneider warehouse in Mira Loma, California. As a result he joined a lawsuit involving hundreds of warehouse workers where he will likely receive more than $20,000 in back pay as part of the recent $21 million legal settlement… Read more »

Scamming scammers: The underbelly of debt collection

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From 2006 to 2009, the nation’s top nine debt buyers purchased almost 90 million consumer accounts with more than $140 billion in “face value.” This article details the saga of debt accounts that continue to be stolen, double-sold or otherwise exchanged without accurate supporting information by “debt collectors, including statements or copies of original signed… Read more »

Fraudsters are always looking for a way to rip off the Government

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

This article details a wheelchair scam that was designed to exploit blind spots in Medicare, which often pays insurance claims without checking them first. The fraud begins with criminals disguised as medical-supply companies. Questions: 1. Based on the article, which major internal control allowed this fraud to happen? 2. What type of control slowed down… Read more »

Living without Water

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Thousands of people in bankrupt Detroit haven’t paid their water bills. Even some businesses have skipped payment. How is the bankrupt city dealing with the most basic of problems — getting people to pay their bills? Questions: 1. Detroit is the poster child for shutting off water to customers delinquent on their bills. Even though… Read more »

Where in the world are all the vinyl records going?

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Hoarding goes beyond compulsive collecting, affecting finances and other areas of the hoarder’s life. Unable to stop buying records, Zero Freitas, a wealthy Brazilian businessman, follows a therapeutical quest to acquire precious and neglected records that haven’t been preserved or transferred to digital files. This post examines what is going on with the world’s vinyl… Read more »

Is Herbalife a Ponzi Scheme?

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Herbalife is a company that sells weight loss shakes, vitamins and other similar products worth billions of dollars. The company has been around for more than 30 years. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. So what could be more legitimate? Bill Ackman, who manages a hedge fund thinks the whole thing is… Read more »

A Complex Financial Crime Story

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Stephen Flatow, a grieving father, charged that Iran financed the Gaza bus bombing that killed his 20-year-old daughter in 1995. Buried in court filings, the suit alleged that money from a charity “fronted” financial transfers to terrorists from the Iranian government. In fact, the charity, known as the Alavi Foundation, actually operated and owned a… Read more »