COURSE #2021031621
INSTRUCTOR: Dennis Elam, PhD, CPA, Associate Professor, Texas A&M University San Antonio
1 CPE hour

Nonmembers CPAs pay an additional $21.25 per credit hour for CE classes; nonmember CPAs will be held responsible for paying this additional amount.

Movie characters portrayed by action heroes delight in going it alone and not playing by the rules. Think  Stallone in Cobra.   Life is not a movie and such action is not recommended for an internal control system.

Centro is a non-profit entity created by the City of San Antonio. This presentation examines a fraud created by accountant Alicia Henderson aka Alicia Padillo.  The presentation will demonstrate how controls from management, HR, and accounting might have prevented this $291,000 fraud. This was a newsworthy event in that numerous high profile San Antonio business and government leaders were on the Board.  Such an experience highlights the need for internal controls.

In addition, an examination is made of the ‘anything goes’ atmosphere of social mood at the time. Such positive mood causes otherwise cautious individuals to avoid ‘going by the book.’ 

Course Objective(s): Attendees will understand the importance of internal controls in the prevention of fraud and how “social mood” might affect internal controls.

Prerequisites: The method of presentation is online instruction and the program level is basic.  There are no prerequisites for this course nor is there any advanced preparation required