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could you read and explain what you get from this please and give two advices? Mississippi Department of Corrections Misspent Thousands of Public Funds In
could you read and explain what you get from this please and give two advices?
Mississippi Department of Corrections Misspent Thousands of Public Funds In 2020, Former Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall and her administration were found to misspend thousands of dollars in public funds. Hall's abuse of funds was uncovered six years after a previous fraud scandal in the MDOC (LeMaster, 2020). Shortly after Hall resigned from her position, the current MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain and Governor Tate Reeves requested an audit of the department for the period July 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019 (Brown, 2020). While conducting the audit, the agency personnel revealed that records needed for the audit were accidentally destroyed by previous leadership. The report said that, "agency personnel mistakenly moved public records and vital accounting records to the "burn truck"; thereby destroying evidence of many purchases, approvals, and audit evidence" (Brown, 2020). Despite not uncovering all of the fraud committed by the previous MDOC leadership, the auditors identified 18 findings of abuse of funds (White, 2020). The audit revealed that hundreds of thousands of Improper travel reim ents (Lemaster, 2020). The auditors also found that thousands of dollars were spent to upgrade the executive suites, as well as the purchases of massage chairs, art, rugs, and Himalayan salt lamps for the meditation rooms in the MDOC facilities (Brown, 2020). Although it is good to ensure your employees cared for, spending large amounts of money to create meditation rooms is a excessive. If it weren't for Commissioner Cain, who knows how long the fraud would have gone undetected. Based on these facts, the type of fraud that occurred was occupational or management fraud. The ACFE defines occupational fraud as, "the use of one's occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employing organization's resources or assets" (7). Hall and her administration misused the MDOC's assets by completing unnecessary purchase, and for authorizing unused comp time to be used as a buyout payment, which is illegal (LeMaster, 2020). In order to limit unnecessary purchases, the MDOC should implement controls to ensure all purchases align with the department's duties. All purchases should be approved by another person and include a reasonable Step by Step Solution
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