C-Suite Rationalization

How to Justify Unannounced Audits to the Board

In 2023, Kinley Brice Lee, a 29-year-old controller at Coldstream Country Club in Ohio, and his wife embezzled nearly $900,000 from the club. Lee orchestrated the theft through fake reimbursements, fraudulent PayPal transactions linked to a company credit card, unauthorized wire transfers, and inflating his salary.

Why wasn’t the comptroller and co-conspirator wife arrested? Because the couple fled to Mexico just before an announced financial audit uncovered their scheme.

While the company is working with the state and federal authorities to have Lee and Sulky extradited from their protected expat enclave in Mexico, the damage is already done with little chance to recover the $4 Million in fines and restitution for the theft.

The country club could have easily detected and stopped this level of fraud, the theft of almost $1 Million, by conducting unannounced and targeted fraud audits of specific business areas such as finance, accounts receivable, human resources, and accounting.

Protect your business from internal theft by contacting Fittz & Associates for a professional fraud assessment of targeted and unannounced audits. The money you save with an audit may very well be your bonus!