Don’t allow trusted ‘Radars’ to subvert internal controls

“She was just like Radar on that TV show M*A*S*H,” said the distraught director of the 911 communications district in the rural Tennessee community. The district was responsible for answering 911 calls and dispatching emergency services to those callers. “She” was the assistant director entrusted to handle all aspects of the district’s finances until an investigation revealed she took about $80,000 from her employer. Because the district was funded by fees assessed on all landline telephones and cellphones in the county, every citizen was considered a victim of her fraud.

I knew the director was talking about M*A*S*H*’s Corporal Walter Eugene O’Reilly (AKA Radar) — one of the most beloved TV characters ever — because my father, a former U.S. Army helicopter mechanic, loved watching the show. He especially enjoyed watching the medevac helicopters in the opening credits and throughout the show.