The University of Texas School of Law is working to improve its financial oversight and controls after an internal audit found that an ex-facilities employee committed a nearly $1.6 million fraud. Former facilities director Jason Shoumaker was indicted last year on charges of theft, money laundering, and abusing his official Read More
A professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School is warning that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal to exempt smaller companies from having to comply with a key provision of the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) could do more harm than good. The SEC proposed in May to exempt relatively Read More
A former CVS employee has pleaded guilty to fraud after an internal audit, triggered by suspicious activity, uncovered a $2.5 million scam to resell stolen merchandise, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York announced last week. The perpetrator, Antonio Rivera of Williamsville, NY, was employed Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed insider trading charges against Martha Patricia Bustos, a former accountant at Illumina Inc. and a certified public accountant, and her close friend, Donald Blakstad, whom Bustos allegedly illegally tipped with confidential information in advance of her company’s quarterly performance announcements. The alleged insider trading Read More
Ever since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act passed in 2002, compliance with the law, known as “SOX,” has been a bit of a thorn in the side of many companies. In earlier years, companies spent millions of dollars and hundreds of employee-hours each to ensure the sophisticated controls over financial reporting that Read More
Ten things that internal audit can do when working with compliance to leverage the qualities of both functions There has been plenty written about the relationship between internal audit and compliance—from analyzing functional differences to advocating integration between the two. This continued discussion is mainly because the two functions have Read More
The Society of Insurance Broking (SIB), a U.K.-based professional association, has issued a new guide for internal auditors to reinforce the hallmarks of a well-structured internal audit function in the industry. While the practice guide is aimed at insurance brokerage firms, it highlights some best practices that are valid for Read More
Editor’s Note: This is part five of a six-part series on the Internal Audit Value Chain, which can act as a blueprint for building a successful internal audit function. Click here for the other articles in the series. One of the biggest myths about internal auditors is that they are Read More
Global package foods company Kraft Heinz announced in a statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission this week that it would restate nearly three years of financial statements after an internal inquiry, led in part by internal audit, found misconduct in the company’s procurement department. The company will restate earnings Read More
It wouldn’t take an internal auditor long to spot the internal control problem with the former spending approval process at Wescom Solutions. An accounting manager, Nadia Minetto, was responsible for approving all spending on company cards at the Mississauga, Ontario-based software company, including her own. That means if she made Read More
