Accounting and Audit Enforcement

Using the Internet, Strayer databases, or the Securities
and Exchange Commission’s Website, located at http://www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce/friactions/friactions2012.shtml,
perform a search on several U.S. health care publicly-traded companies and
choose a health care organization that has been accused of committing health
care fraud.

Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:

1. Evaluate
   the level of SOX regulations that applied to for-profit and not-for-profit
   health care organizations, indicating whether or not mandating SOX requirements
   for non-profits might reduce fraud and increase corporate governance. Provide support
   for your rationale.

2. Determine
   whether SOX has been effective in regulating ethical behavior of for-profit
   health care organizations. Defend your position,

3. Determine
   whether deficiencies existed in the IT environment, and suggest ways to improve
   audit trails, data integrity, and procedures in order to reduce the risk of
   fraudulent activity.

4. Review
   the audit report issued by the external auditing firm from the company’s
   Websites for the year it was accused of fraud. Then, determine whether the
   external auditors were negligent in preparing the audit report for the company.
   Formulate an opinion regarding which Internal Control was deficient or what
   GAAP was violated. Defend your position.

5. Determine
   what provision(s) of SOX was/were violated in the health care fraud case in
   question. Indicate whether or not SOX adequately provides sanctions to deter the
   behavior or if changes are needed to the regulations to remedy the issue(s) and
   thus ensure compliance.

6. Based
   on the fraudulent activity that occurred, recommend two (2) improvements to the
   internal control environment to reduce those occurrences. Provide detailed
   recommendations.

7. Use
   at least four (4) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not
   qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New
  Roman font (12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references
  must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional
  instructions.

• Include a cover page containing the title of
  the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and
  the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the
  required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with
this assignment are:

• Evaluate internal controls within an
  organization and create a risk assessment.

• Analyze ethical theories to evaluate a
  decision-making process to determine compliance with professional codes of
  ethics.

• Evaluate the health organizations to
  assess the level of risk in an audit engagement.

• Evaluate financial data for potential
  fraud and prepare an audit approach for detecting fraud.

• Assess the risk of financial misstatement
  in an IT-based environment.

• Use technology and information resource to
  research issues in accounting management.

• Write clearly and concisely about
  accounting management using proper writing mechanics.