Unauthorized access at North Bay

Jessica Sabatia, a former accounts payable clerk for North Bay Health Care Group (NBH), admitted to using her computer to access North Bays accounting software without authorization, and in turn issued various cheques payable to herself and others. Several of the cheques were cashed by Jessica or deposited into her personal bank account, and some were deposited into the bank accounts of others. She attempted to conceal the fraud by altering the electronic cheque registers of North Bay to make it appear as if the cheques had been payable to the companys vendors. The fraudulent scheme resulted in losses to NBH of at least $875,035 over a 2 year period.

a) Comment on Segregation of Duties at NBH. Is the current segregation of duties effective? Justify your answer (2 marks).

b) What other controls (other than Segregation of Duties) could help improve the current internal control structure in the payment cycle at NBH? Discuss five (5) controls and justify why they are relevant for NBH (7.5 marks). Type your answers in the table below.

c) For each of your five (5) suggested controls identified as above, state whether the control type is preventive, detective or corrective. Justify your answer (7.5 marks). Type your answers in the table below.

d) Identify two (2) components of the control environment as outlined in the COSO frameworkthat were poorly implemented and could have contributed to facilitating Jessicas fraud. Justify why you think the weakness in each of these components could have contributed to the fraud. (3 marks). Type your answers in the table below