Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination, 2nd Edition

2Who Commits Fraud and Why: The Profile and Psychology of the Fraudster

According to a 2012 FBI Pittsburgh Division press release, Patricia K. Smith, 57 at the time and the former controller at Baierl Acura, plead guilty in federal court. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette alleges that Ms. Smith fraudulently transferred $10.3 million from Baierl Acura’s accounts to her own, using the money to finance a spree of frivolity and generosity. Ms. Smith was a one-time trusted employee who worked at the car dealership beginning in 1993, serving as the financial controller and working at the dealership for 11 years before embarking on her bad acts.

According to these sources, from late 2004 through mid-2011, Ms. Smith padded her $53,000-a-year salary with upward of $25,000 a week that she embezzled. What did she do with this extra money: She spent “$43,000 for a hotel in Paris, France, $1.8 million billed to her American Express account for private jet fare … $62,500 for six club-level Super Bowl tickets, and it goes on and on and on.” Apparently a religious woman, she splurged on “The Vatican Package,” ($5,000) which included Mass in Papal Audience with VIP seating, airfare for four, VIP tour of the Vatican Museum with a private tour guide, and a private tour of the Sistine Chapel with family before it is open to the public.

Ms. Smith told U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond at her sentencing hearing that she spent the money on friends and family, saying “I wanted to earn their love, and I ...