| Ten casinos operated in Tunica County, Mississippi during the four calendar years 2000 to 2003. During that time, the district attorney of Tunica County prosecuted four hundred and sixty-eight crimes committed against the casinos. Each crime was an un-planned test of casino internal controls. The "discovery files" of the district attorney documented the internal control procedures used by casino employees to detect the crimes and identify the defendants.; The discovery files were used to accomplish five objectives: (1) Casino compliance with state regulations was confirmed, at least in cases of prosecuted crimes; (2) Control procedures executed by casino employees were identified and described, reducing uncertainty about specific internal controls used by casinos; (3) Statistically significant differences were detected in the size-adjusted frequencies of prosecuted crimes at casinos, suggesting differences between casinos in their ability and willingness to prosecute crime; (4) Methods used to commit crimes and motives for crime were identified and described, reducing uncertainty about threats to casino assets; and, (5) Unique elements of the internal control environment of casinos were identified and described, along with adaptations of internal controls by casinos.; Suggestions for future research include two questions related to the theory of constraints and two questions related to agency theory. Each of the suggested research questions is related to the findings of this dissertation. |
