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David, an accounts receivable clerk at a fitness center, steals a customer's monthly membership payment. When he receives another customer's payment a few days later, David applies the payment to the first customer's account. He then applies payment from a third customer to the second customer's account. David is MOST LIKELY committing a:
The correct answer is A. David is committing a lapping scheme. Lapping occurs when an employee steals one customer's payment and conceals the theft by applying a later payment from another customer to the first customer's account. The employee must then continue shifting later payments to earlier accounts to keep the shortage hidden. This creates a rolling concealment pattern that can continue until discovered through customer complaints, account confirmations, delayed postings, or independent reconciliation. Padding, substitution, and duplication are not the standard ACFE classifications for this receivables concealment method. Because David is using later customer payments to cover earlier stolen receipts, his conduct fits the classic definition of lapping under cash receipts fraud schemes.
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