Case Sully Energy, founded in 1961 and is based in Holly, Michigan. On April 26, 2016, Ernest Jason Rittinger, the Chief Financial Officer of Sully Energy Inc., pleaded guilty for embezzling over $2. 7 million from the company. Rittinger was employed with Sully Energy Inc. since 2001, and became the Chief Financial Officer in 2005. According to Rittinger's plea, from years 2006 to 2010, he embezzled money from the company by authorizing and signing company checks made payable to himself or to a bank to which he owed money. Rittinger embezzled a total of $2,447,000. In addition, during the same time period, Rittinger embezzled an additional amount of approximately $333,000 from the petty cash fund. Rittinger had exclusive control over the company's petty cash fund and although the actual petty cash fund never exceeded $1,000, Rittinger had multiple checks prepared that were $3,000 or more each. After cashing the checks, purportedly for the petty cash fund, Rittinger replenished the petty cash fund, but kept the excess funds for himself. Additionally, Rittinger attempted to conceal the embezzlement by, falsifying the financial records; destroying records of the checks; and concealing the fraud from external auditors hired by the company to review its finances. Due to Rittinger's actions, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss associated with the offense, whichever is greater. Task You have been asked to conduct an internal control review of the Sully Energy case. Prepare a 5-7 page paper addressing the following questions. 1. Why is internal control important to an organization? 2. How does internal control help an organization achieve reliable financial reporting? 3. Why does an external auditor need to know about a client's internal control? 4. What is internal control over financial reporting and what are its components? 5. What type of control is segregation of duties and what risks is that control intended to mitigate? 6. What controls could Sully have implemented that may have prevented the embezzlement?