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Assignment Background:

An allegation recently surfaced against NWSupplies, Inc. $("$The Company"$),$ a supplier of office supplies and equipment, which claimed that management has been pushing their salesmen to close deals by quarter end with sales contracts allowing for weak return policies. Your colleagues at Zeus LLP $("$Zeus$"),$ a boutique forensic accounting firm located in Washington, D$.$C$.,$ have already started reviewing the allegation to see if it has any merit. Thus far, the team has begun collecting hard drives, reviewing emails, requesting documentation from the client, and analyzing financials. In doing so$,$ they have identified a transaction which could substantiate the allegation. The transaction occurred near the close of the $3$rd quarter, with MDJ Sales $-$ one of the company's largest retail purchasers. To date, the team has found the following support related to the sale to MDJ:

Emails $($pages $2,3)-$ After utilizing Zeus's data keyword search tool, the team discovered a couple "Hot an email thread between the controller and the CFO.

Journal Entry Screenshot $($page $4)-$ The team received access to the accounting system and located the journal entry for the MDJ transaction.

Sales Invoice $($page $5)-$ The team found a copy of the invoice for the sale in question with a sales date of $\frac{9}{27}\frac{?}{19}.$

Assignment: Known for your interviewing skills, your Partner at Zeus has requested that you interview John Hunter, Chief Financial Officer $("$CFO$")$ of the company. The interview with John is scheduled next week.

Summarize the case.

List $8$ interview questions. Up to $3$ questions can be used to establish a baseline.

List any behavioral symptoms you should look for in an interview.

Why would the actions taken by the NW Supplies sales team be considered fraud? Are there any circumstances under which similar actions may not be considered fraud?

Provide $3$ suggestions on how the company can prevent this issue from reoccurring.

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