Case 3.3

Avon Products, Inc. In December 2014, the SEC levied almost $135 million of fines against Avon for violat-ing the bribery and internal control provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The scandal also cost five senior Avon executives their jobs, including CEO Andrea Jung, one of the most influential women in Corporate America"

Case 1.2

Weatherford International Two Weatherford executives masterminded an innovative accounting and financial reporting fraud that grossly understated their companys reported income tax expense while, at the same time, ensuring that the company annually paid the proper amount of income taxes due to taxing authorities.KEY TOPICS: audit objectives for a clients income tax expense and its related tax as-sets and liabilities, material weaknesses in internal control, coping with hostile and uncooperative client executives, and inadequate staffing of audit engagements."

Case 3.8

The Boeing Company Two Boeing internal auditors disclosed information regarding alleged problems in their employers internal controls to a newspaper reporter. After being fired, the two individuals filed lawsuits against Boeing under the whistleblowing provisions embed-ded in the SarbanesOxley Act"

Case 8.6

Olympus Corporation This case documents the long-running Olympus accounting fraud that shocked the Japanese business community. In addition to other issues, the case examines systemic weaknesses in Japans independent audit function."

Case 4.2

F&C International, Inc. A financial fraud spelled the end of a company with a proud history and tested the eth-ics of several of its key management and accounting personnel."

Case 4.4

Aaron Elrod, Sole Practitioner A CPA in public practice faces a prison sentence after a dishonest client goads him into participating in a money-laundering scheme."

Accountants fulfill a variety of roles. They can be internal to an organization, an external auditor, or part of the internal auditing team. Each role is different, and the roles cannot overlap but remain independent of one another. However, each may find irregularities in the financial information they observe.

The questions that emerge are:

• What is responsibility?
• To whom do you report this?
• Do you need to involve others? And, if so, who?

This week, you will examine the responsibilities of the one who suspects or discovers fraud in light of their role internal to the organization or as the external auditor. Please include comments regarding legal rights and protections offered to individuals.

This week, you are to read the cases assigned for the week (Cases 3.3, 1.2, 3.8, 8.6, 4.2, and 4.4) located in the weekly resources and choose one to analyze.

Be sure your paper addresses the following:

• Incorporate common themes from the cases related to the weeks topic, including some background on each case.
• Identify lessons learned from the cases collectively.
• Offer recommendations to prevent future occurrences.
• Include research from the scholarly sources for the week to support your case information.