Comments on: Fraud at local church likely

By: Tracy Coenen

Tracy Coenen — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:34:49 +0000

Hi Schenck employee… Thanks for commenting. I know they’re overpaying because I work in the same marketplace as VK and I know their fee structure and what they provide for it. The church is paying too much and getting too little. Did Schenck submit a proposal for this project?

By: R Baker

R Baker — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:32:32 +0000

How do you know that the church is “overpaying” Virchow Krause to do the work? Forensic accounting is very difficult and time consuming and needs to be done right, especially if criminal charges could hang in the balance.

By: Tracy Coenen

Tracy Coenen — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:51:44 +0000

Michael your point is the main point of my article. It’s about “segregating duties” so that people are naturally checking on one another’s work. Even though many churches think they can’t possibly segregate duties, they can. All they need is two people, and if they have three, they can do even better.

By: Michael Goode

Michael Goode — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:32:07 +0000

I look forward to that column, Tracy. The one thing that is easiest and most imperative to do is simply to have multiple people looking at the books. When I have heard about fraud at churches there is usually only one person responsible for the books (usually a CPA who is a parishioner) and nobody looks over their work to make sure they are doing it right and not stealing.