Another Employee Theft Case

Another employee theft case shows the need for redundancy in job duties and the necessity of adequate supervision and follow up.

An accounts payable clerk for a Pennsylvania security company was recently arrested and charged with the theft of over $880,000 from the company. [Read the full story here at lancasteronline.com.]

The woman, an employee since 2003, stole the money over a period of six years.  She would endorse checks to herself and deposit them in her own account in amounts ranging from $1000 to $3500.

The employee theft was discovered, as many often are, while the employee was away from work for a while, and another employee had to look at the bank statements.

Upon her return, her employment was terminated and the owners continue to investigate the case.  Initially, the thefts were thought to be around $17,000 and the investigation was handed over to the police department, who discovered the rest of the missing funds.

According to the owners, the former employee was allowed to handle all financial transactions for the company.  The detective assigned to the case was quoted as saying, “Businesses put people in these positions because they feel they can be trusted – then those people take advantage of that trust.”

This business is fortunate that the police department was able to fully investigate this incident.  Frequently, police agencies have their hands full with violent crimes and other types of theft to adequately devote the manpower to white collar crime, unless it involves, as this case does, large amounts of money.

To prevent employee theft, companies write procedures and job descriptions that delegate responsibilities for cash handling to several employees so that the duties are separated.  This greatly reduces the opportunity for embezzlement.

At the first suspicion of internal theft of any kind, a business should contact an expert, a qualified loss prevention agent, to investigate and solve any improprieties.  A loss prevention agent with a background in business understands the concerns of the business from the standpoint of recovery and prevention and is able to assist the business owner in avoiding instances of internal theft in the future.

A business oriented loss prevention agent can help prevent and correct employee theft.

Call 770-426-0547 to speak with a loss prevention agent or click here if you have suspicions or concerns about employee theft for more information.