Strategic Finance: Harriett Walterss Case - Assignment Example

Strategic Finance: Harriett Walters’s Case Statement of the Relevant Facts Harriette Walters was a former manager in a Mid-level D.C’s tax office. He was sentenced in the year 2009 for seventeen and half years after she was found guilty for the largest embezzlement of funds in District government. Although Harriette Walters apologized for fraud case, she continued to portray confidence of an individual who managed to fraud $48.1 million tax for almost a period of two decades. Emmet G. Sullivan, a U.S District Judge lead Harriette Walter’s case. The Judge delivered to Harriette Walters a sentence of seventeen and half years. Other ten participants of the case including his family relatives and friends also received prison terms due to their participation in Walters’s fraud deeds, which the public uncovered in the year 2007 (Johnson, 2014). The governmental authorities said that they recovered an approximate of $10 million in assets and cash, but the participants used the rest in gambling trips as well as buying expensive jewelry, clothes, cars, and furniture. Her fraud activities left a humongous damage in the treasure chest of the District Government. Perspective: Ethics #1 D.C’s Court of Appeal charged Harriette Walters due to violation of a number of ethical obligations according to the country’s constitution. One of the ethical obligations was that, Harriette Walters was using the District account to cash fraud checks. She also committed an ethical obligation of creating fraudulent tax checks that she could cash at BOA (Bank of America) using the District account (Seidman, 2008). She was also charged with violation of DFCA (District’s False Claim Act). Perspective: Accountability #2 There were several organizations, which were involved in the investigation and auditing of Harriette Walters’s case. Those who were accountable for the case included the Bank of America (BOA), the tellers, Walters’ friends, as well as her relatives (Martyr, 2004). The Bank of America was accountable for the case since this is where Walters used to cash the fraud checks. She even bought gifts for some tellers in order to ensure that there was corporation in depositing and cashing of the checks as well as earning their trust. She solicited several tellers to influence them assist her with the depositing and cashing of the fraud checks (Institute of Management Accountants, 2009). The bank was accountable to the case due to claims of fraud, negligence, violation of DFCA (District False Claims Act), and breach common laws. Lastly, a number of individuals including her friends as well as her family relatives were also accountable to the case since they highly influenced her to involve herself in the fraud activities. Perspective: Prevention #3 The defense of Harriette Walters, attorney Steve Tabackman, claimed that the fifteen years sentence was enough for her client. Steve Tabackman argued that Harriette Walters suffered very severe childhood traumas and this highly contributed to her associating herself with fraud activities. While trying to prevent Harriette Walters, he argued that she was extremely insecure and her fraud activities could allow her to view herself as a supporter to her co-workers and friends (Seidman, 2008). Ms. Walter was not heartless to others’ needs and she involved herself to the fraud activities due to her complex psychological demands. Tabackman argued that Harriette Walters continued her talks with the District authorities hoping to assists the District in the lawsuits against BOA (Bank of America), whereby one of the bank’s managers deposited approximately $18 million fake refund checks. Among those who were accountable for the case’s investigation were the city officials as well as the federal investigators. These groups of investigators said that they were all pleased with Walters’s sentence of seventeen and half years. Perspective: Incentives and justifications #5 The incentives of Harriette Walters’s case included the Bank of America, the tellers of the bank, her friends, and her relatives. The Bank of America highly influenced Harriette Walters to continue with her fraud activities because she was able to cash and deposit the fraudulent tax checks using District account in the bank (Probst, 2010). Other incentives of this case were the bank’s tellers. She could even buy gifts for some tellers to enable her maintain her corporation with the tellers in depositing and cashing of the checks as well as earning their trust. She solicited several tellers to influence them assist her with the depositing and cashing of the fraud checks. Walters also admitted that her friends and relatives also influenced her to continue with her fraudulent activities. She protested that she used over 250 fraudulent checks to issue to her friends and relatives as well as co-conspirators since the year 1989. Justification was ensured in the ruling of this case, and those who were accountable were judged accordingly. Harriette Walter received a sentence of seventeen and half years, Turnbull who involved in stealing of $24 million received a sentence of nine years (Martyr, 2004). Others who were accountable included Marilyn Yoon, Walters’ shopper who received a sentence of one year, and Walter Jones who was the bank’s manager received a sentence of six and half years in prison. Conclusion In conclusion, the major crime that many people commit while serving in governmental institutions is embezzlement of funds. However, most of them are not as amazing as in the case of Harriette Walters whom many people as the American’s queen of undisputed Municipal Embezzlement. She used her friends and relatives in stealing of the $48 million (Probst, 2010). However, I think the court played justice by giving Harriette Walters a sentence of seventeen and half years and putting all the other individuals who were accountable for the crime (Johnson, 2014). Harriette Walters deserved such a long sentence and even according to most Americans, she deserved a life sentence because he did not steal to feed her children but she stole from the children, the old people, and from businesspersons. Harriette remains the leading embezzler who has ever hit the government of American so hard. References Institute of Management Accountants. (2009). Strategic finance. Montvale, NJ: Institute of Management Accountants. Johnson, H. C. (2014). Behavioral neuroscience for the human services: Foundations in emotion, mental health, addiction, and alternative therapies. Martyr, P. (2004). Paradise of quacks: An alternative history of medicine in Australia. Paddington, N.S.W: Macleay Press. Probst, C. W. (2010). Insider threats in cyber security. New York, Springer. Seidman, S. W. (2008). Trillion dollar scam: Exploding health care fraud. Boca Raton: Universal Publishers. Read More