Who is being affected if Jennifer is embezzling funds? Who is being affected by Annie's decision to keep her concerns to herself?
Tough Choices: Ethical Decisions in Whistleblowing INTRODUCTION ity employees The city has never had financial difficulties before. Most of the residents in the community have an income well above the national average. Their large houses have always provided significant cash flows to the city through property taxes, and their local shopping provides extra revenue through an department. an extensive police force, and many other er er services, attracting talented individ nearby communities with their high salaries and very competitive pensions. ing talented individuals away from rears crees do not appear to ply into the mopping the city s cash flows have been ness test bre so severe that the fire department and emergency medical technician (EMT) services have held fundraisers and solicited donations to stay operational and meet their alarm Other public services, such as road repair and park maintenance, have also started to suffer. The loss of a large number of affluent citizens or successful businesses would be disastrous for the struggling community, making city leaders desperate to find a solution to their current cash crunch. In a meeting of all the senior public officials and financial officers of the town, the mayor and city council the city funds are disappearing. The frank discussion of the city's position unsettled many of the leaders, specialist due to the recent cuts. Annie and Jennifer Bush, the city's comptroller and treasurer, make up the entire finance department for the city. As the mayor talked, Annie started to worry. Could the trouble be in the comptroller's office? She hoped incidents in the past few weeks that worried her. The first was a discussion of a strange account Annie had found almost two months ago. The second was a conversation about workload that happened just two weeks TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE MEETING: THE DCDA ACCOUNT Jen, can I talk to you for a minute?" Annie called out to her boss through Jennifer's open door. Annie had hard time with such informal behavior when she came to Salem from a large corporation in Seattle, but mirror the atmosphere in the small town. And she hated being interrupted in her office. Annie had always thought it was weird that Jennifer would rather come to her than have Annie go into her office, but the pay was good enough and the job comfortable enough that she certainly wasn't going to complain about something so simple. What do you need, Annie?" Jennifer's question brought Annie's mind out of the clouds. "I just had a question about this new account," he said quickly. "New account?" Jennifer asked, frowning. "What new account?" "This one," Annie pointed to the new line on her spreadsheet: DCDA Salem Capital Development Account. I haven't seen this one before." Oh, it's been around for a while," Jennifer said, looking back at her office. "Maybe you haven't seen it because nothing's gone through there for a while." "Maybe," Annie agreed with a frown. "But it's still weird. I mean, it looks like you are the only signatory on the account. Don't all of the accounts need at least two signatures?" Jennifer smiled. "Oh, so that's the trouble. Your internal auditing buzzers are going off. That's a pet account and the other small costs. Since the amounts are so small, he and I just take care of it." "There are several very large transactions," Annie noted, "and some of the checks were made out to with lots of questions "we're trying to bring in news esponded as she usually did when people from movie with lots of questions, "we're trying to bring in new businesses and keep people from moving away. Of what You look tired. Since it's already almost 3 p.m., why don't you go home and get some rest. I'll talk with the mayor about these funds the next time I see him, and I'll try to get him to control his spending. Annie felt a twinge of guilt, but then again, who was she to argue with the boss? Jennifer let Annie leave cuny when she needed to, never doched her day pay, and never expected her to make up the hours, And why not leave it to the politicians? She'd go enjoy a quiet afternoon. It wasn't until later that day that she wondered if Jennifer had been trying to get her out of the office for more than just politics. TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE MEETING: WORKING WEEKENDS Annie smiled as she settled into her office chair, a hot chocolate from a local coffee shop in one hand and that? Recently. Jennifer had started providing hot chocolate and pastries every Monday to make the day more pleasant, she claimed. Monday's workload was also lighter now. That's because Jennifer had sta coming in on weekends to work on some of the more trivial project would have m have made the Monday morning workload a nightmare. nothing to do now on Monday mornings. Besides, bookkeeping tasks are supposed to be my job. Why don't you let me take care of them?" As always, Jennifer had laughed nervously and waved her hand in the air. "You're not a bookkeeper, Annie. "it says 'other duties as assigned. ' I'd be happy to take care of that stuff for you like I have been, as well as are of all offman puke you've been doing. I'm supposed to make your life easier, not leave you to take "Oh, Annie," Jennifer sighed. "To be honest, I wish I could let you take care of this stuff. But the truth is being restless. I don't know. All I know is that I can't settle down on Sunday nights, so instead of watching IV, I come in and get some work done. That way, if I get some work accomplished, it makes me feel better about the lack of sleep." and You work on some of your own projects? At least then you would be making headway yours. Yours have a definite beginning and ending, and by the of invoices paid, accounts reconciled, and checks printed." Annie shrugged her shoulders. "Well, you're the boss. You can do what you want." "Thank you for noticing." Jennifer said dryly. Aimmie smiled then looked at Jennifer in concem. "Maybe you should take a trip. You know, a nice vacation. That would give you the opportunity to unwind and relax." "No!" Jennifer's voice was sharp, then she mellowed. "No, I can't do that in have to do myself. With only the two of us in the office, only I can do them." I can do not in this crisis. There are things I I am a CMA too, you know," Annie began, but Jennifer cut her off with a wave of her hand. "I know, but then I'd have to train you. It's less work for me to just do it myself." time bit her tongue to keep from mentioning that Jennifer would only have to do that once. After that. she Link about vacations right now. Knowing how much money Jennifer eamed. Annie didn't really derstand why she didn't take more time to enjoy it. But she could sort of under help ease the financial crisis. Still, given how slowly governments moved, even small town governments. surely Jennifer had time to plan one weekend vacation. LATER THAT EVENING: TOUGH CHOICES Annie sat on the couch, looking out over the small meadow behind her house. She didn't even hear her husband, George, come in or feel him sit down next to her. "A penny for your thoughts?" he finally said quietly. Annie looked over at George and smiled. "They're pretty depressing thoughts. Perhaps, I should pay you for them instead." George just smiled back at her and she sighed. "I'm a little worried about the town." You mean the finand "Yeah, I think Jennifer might be behind it." and she's cut the department down to about nothing I mean. it's just the two of you, right? And she does so much of the work herself. "I know, I know. I'm probably wrong." She paused. "But," George added. "You're afraid you're right." Annie nodded. "What do you think Jennifer's doing. She could be!" Ann to report a fraud if I find one. George shook his head with a smile. "Come on, Annie. Do you really think Jennifer would be involved in a fraud? She's one of the wealthiest people I know. She has that huge ranch. What does she call it?" "Stepping Stones Stallions.' "Right. And it just keeps getting bigger. I mean, didn't she just add another c ion stud?" Annie nodded. time, buys nice Christmas gifts for us and the kids, and what about those expensive tickets for the horse show that she gave to everyone in city hall? She's loaded." "Maybe," Annie said, still sounding doubtful, "but she doesn't enjoy it." "What's that supposed to mean?" George asked. "Well, take that horse show you mentioned. She's mentioned. She's the only one who didn't go, other than the emergency staff. She begged off at the last minute. And she never goes on vacation or goes to races any more. I leave ask me to help with all of the work that needs to be done? It just doesn't seem right." okay. George agreed. "You're right. She's definitely a workaholic. But that doesn't mean she's a Maybe she's just spending the family forforgenerations. They're well-respected but keep a low profile. annie still looked concerned. "Well, what about the recent audit? Wasn't it one of the big firms? And didn't come to the offices themselves. They hired a local CPA do the leg-work. He's done lots of small audits, but more to it than that . I told you about the DCDA account that I found a few months ago Hand And there's George nodded. "Well, I did a little more digging, and several of the invoices that support the payments made from that account look suspicious. The invoices are not on proper letterhead and don't have approved contracts. In fact, it looks like most of the building projects didn't even happen. Also, I found several more checks made out to "Treasurer, ' and many of them were not supported by invoices either. They add up to a pretty large amount." "Well," George threw up his hands, "if it bugs you that much, then perhaps you should talk with the mayor or a member of the city council about it. You won't be able to sleep until you do." Annie shook her head. "How can I do that, George? What if I'm wr I've ever had. It could be nothing, just coincidences. How can I report something that might not even exist?"
