Are You Paying For Illegal Drugs? Corporate Fraud Investigation In Atlanta

In the course of my career as a corporate fraud investigator I have found that when conducting a employee theft investigation approximately 30 % have involved illegal drugs in some form or fashion. The person committing employee theft used the proceeds for the purchase of illegal drugs.

In some cases when an employee has a drug dependence they do not want their spouse, parents or friends to know. They need money because their paycheck goes for the normal things we all pay: housing, car note, food, gas… But a drug habit has to be fed and where is the easiest place to get money? They might get shot robbing a bank, burglarizing a home, or robbing a person on the street. The easiest place in most cases is their employer. You have cash and merchandise on hand and the employee probably has access to all of it.

When we conduct a corporate fraud investigation one of the first things I do is look at is the personnel files and talk to the supervisors. I ask about the employees in question. Do they live with in their means, how is their work record and is there any activity that would suggest illegal drug use?

Spotting a drug user can be a fairly simple matter. Look for physical signs such as radical mood swings, comprehension problem, no call no show for work issues and frequent times that the employee disappears to name a few.

Why should you care if a person is under the influence of illegal drugs at work? Besides the obvious impact to productivity and payroll you should consider that employees like this tend to attract other like themselves. In more than one corporate fraud investigation I have found that several other employees began working at the same company, attracted by drug user #1. Corporate fraud and your assets then become the cash cow for several drug habits.

Generally a corporate fraud investigator does not really care why employee theft is occurring just who and solving it. However, you should learn from this and put a prevention program in place. Are you conducting pre-employment drug screens? Do you have policy in place that allows you to conduct unannounced drug screens?

Corporate fraud has destroyed more businesses than we could probably count. Do not let your business become a victim because an employee theft situation happened as a result of something clearly preventable.  Employee theft and corporate fraud will not go away on its own. YOU must be proactive!

For more information on corporate fraud , corporate fraud investigation and employee theft in Atlanta contact us about corporate fraud investigator or call 1.770.426.0547