Guiltment Fraud: Gregory Ponzi Scheme And Financial Statement Fraud

Le-Nature was a Latrobe Pennsylvania based beverage maker owned by Gregory Podlucky, who is now serving a 20 year prison sentence in New Jersey’s Ft. Dix Federal Corrections Institute. Gregory Podlucky was the admitted ring leader, but in all 5 people plead guilty and another 3 took their chances at trial, where they were all found guilty as well. Le-Nature went into bankruptcy in 2006, and 3 years later they were indicted by the federal government being accused of scamming investors and banks out of more than 800 million dollars. The accounting fraud was an elaborate Ponzi scheme and financial statement fraud. Company officials created false documents, invoices, customer checks, and statements to record activity that never occurred.

Taking a look at Donald Cressey’s hypotheses which is now known as the fraud triangle depicts the certain criteria for the mind frame of the fraudster. The fraud triangle is a theory that consists of perceived pressures, perceived opportunity, and rationalization. It gives us the different pressures placed on individuals that would make them consider “cooking the books.” It also demonstrates where the possible opportunity lies so that we may take precautions to eliminate the opportunity. Last, it demonstrates how a fraudster rationalizes with themselves to make committing the fraud okay. Donald Cressey believes all three elements must be present for fraud to occur. Upper management is usually the focus of financial statement fraud because financial statements are done at the management level. So in this case financial statement fraud was committed by the CEO Gregory Podlucky

But the stakeholders play a very important role in preventing and deterring fraud. Stakeholders includes customers, suppliers, employees, the community and the government. Each play an important role since they have an interest in the integrity of financial reports of the publicly-traded company. Employees have a vested interest in the company’s success and they have a responsibility to protect their interest. Their roles may start from the bottom but they are key players in the company. To help deter or prevent financial statement fraud, the employee must report financial reporting fraud if it is detected. This can be done by way of a vigorous whistleblower program of some other tip line provided by the company. The community and its members, including the news media, can play a regulator role by confirming that the company is a good citizen with fair business practices. Shareholders should make sure that any company in which they’d like to invest is in compliance with standards of oversight and ethics. Investors need to play and active role also. They should be actively involved by monitoring the companies in which they invest. They should attend shareholder’s meeting regularly to discuss concerns and check the books of the company. This will allow them to stay current with what is going on within the company. Shareholders should always remain vigilant and make