Reference no: EM132536825

Question - In your first assignment as a graduate forensic accountant in Melbourne, you have been asked to assist with performing an audit of a start-up technology company that recently 'went public' (issued shares) and is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Throughout the course of your audit, you have had many conversations with employees in the organisation and you feel comfortable that you have established a good working relationship with them. During one conversation, an organisational employee mentions the seemingly-strange behaviour of a co-worker named Terry Beasley. They claim that Terry typically comes into work very early and stays until very late. He is commonly stressed and has been quite irritable lately. Although many of the company's founders and employees who own stock and have made substantial financial gains from the company's listing on the stock exchange, Terry did not own any stock in the company prior to the IPO and hence didn't make much money when the company went public. Nevertheless, Terry has recently purchased a house in the upmarket suburb of Toorak and started driving a Mercedes-Benz.

Required - Discuss and identify the fraud symptoms in this case. Explain whether you believe fraud is (or is not) occurring in this case.