Which of the following best describes a fictitious expense reimbursement scheme?

A fictitious expense reimbursement scheme occurs when an employee creates non-existent expenses to receive unauthorized reimbursement from their employer. This can involve fabricating receipts or other supporting documents that make it appear as though legitimate expenses were incurred when, in fact, they were not.

The scenario of generating a fake receipt using basic computer software accurately describes this concept. In this case, the employee is leveraging technology to create a document that has no real basis in actual transactions, thereby allowing them to submit an expense report that seems legitimate but is purely fabricated. The act of forging receipts is a hallmark of fictitious expense schemes, as it is often the primary method used to present false claims for reimbursement.

The other options, while they involve some form of deception relating to expense reporting, do not capture the essence of creating an entirely fictitious expense. For example, the submission of personal expenses as business-related involves misclassification but does not involve the creation of a fake expense itself. Similarly, altering an electronic receipt still pertains to manipulating an actual expense rather than inventing one from scratch, and submitting a receipt for the same hotel reservation multiple times indicates duplication of a legitimate expense rather than fabrication. Thus, option B effectively encapsulates the core idea behind fictitious expense reimbursement schemes.