Harriet Knox, Ralph Patton, and Marcia Diamond work for a family physician, Dr. Gwen Contrad, who is in private practice. Dr. Contrad is knowledgeable about office management practices and has segregated the cash receipt duties as follows:

Knox opens the mail and prepares a triplicate list of money received.
She sends one copy of the list to Patton, the cashier, who deposits the receipts daily in the bank.
Diamond, the recordkeeper, receives a copy of the list and posts payments to the patients’ accounts.
About once a month the office clerks have an expensive lunch they pay for as follows:

First, Patton endorses a patient’s check in Dr. Contrad’s name and cashes it at the bank.
Knox then destroys the remittance advice accompanying the check.
Finally, Diamond posts payment to the customer’s account as a miscellaneous credit.
The three clerks justify their actions by their relatively low pay and the knowledge that Dr. Contrad will likely never miss the money.

Discussion Questions:
Who is the best person in Dr. Contrad’s office to reconcile the bank statement? Simply providing a name is insufficient; you have to explain why this person would be the best one to reconcile the bank statements. About 75 to 100 words are expected.
Would a bank reconciliation uncover this office fraud? Why or why not? Again, about 75-100 words are expected.