Do you know who is stealing from you? It could be anyone. Shoplifting rings across the United States are now a common practice. Millions of dollars are stolen every day due to shoplifting, and many millions more are because of employee theft.
The shoplifter can be anyone; from a grandma, a city employee, or a government official, shoplifters come in all shapes and form. Police officers have been known to be apprehended when shoplifting, and juveniles are notorious for stealing merchandise when they visit a store. Training and awareness from you as a store manager, and from the employees at your supervision, can limit the amount these shoplifters take from your store.
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Feds Break Up $20M Shoplifting Ring That Stole Clothing From Coast To Coast
Federal authorities say they’ve arrested more than a dozen people and broken up a massive shoplifting network that trafficked in some $20 million in apparel and other items stolen from stores all over the country and then sold in Mexico.
According to a grand jury indictment [PDF] unsealed this week, the San Diego-based defendants allegedly assembled “crews” of shoplifters who would steal items from a variety of stores — Victoria’s Secret, Hollister, American Eagle, Banana Republic — at malls both local and thousands of miles away.
Prosecutors say that this ring pilfered items at stores as far-flung as Washington state, Illinois, and Maryland, all with the intention of transporting the stolen goods back to the San Diego area, and then on to a fence in Mexico.
The indictment details the various roles given to the shoplifters involved in any given theft. There were “team leaders” who selected stores and targeted items within the store, while doing advance scouting for the presence of police or loss-prevention staff. When it came time to shoplift, the team leader would relocate the items targeted for shoplifting, putting them in spots within a store that made it easier for others to steal them.
Former school district employee charged with felony theft
Former St. Cloud school district buildings and grounds supervisor Bryan Brown was charged Friday with felony theft for using public funds for personal purchases, according to a complaint filed in Stearns County District Court.
Brown resigned April 3 after 27 years with the district. He began working for the district as a custodian in 1990. In 2011, he became the buildings and grounds supervisor.
Brown’s supervisor, former executive director of business services Kevin Januszewski, resigned April 6.
After the resignations, the district asked St. Cloud Police Department to investigate the possible theft of public funds at the school district, according to the complaint. That investigation was launched April 7.
NEW YORK, NY, Aug. 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hiscox, the international specialist insurer, today released the 2017 Hiscox Embezzlement Study™, an examination of employee theft in the US. The findings reveal that US businesses impacted by employee theft lost an average of $1.13 million last year. Small and mid-sized companies (fewer than 500 employees) continue to be disproportionally victimized by employee theft, representing approximately 68 percent of cases.
This is the third annual Hiscox Embezzlement Study, which examines employee theft cases that were active in the US federal court system in 2016.
“There is a necessary level of trust between employees and their employer that is required of successful businesses,” said Doug Karpp, Crime & Fidelity Product Head at Hiscox. “When there is a breach in that trust because an employee or executive steals, it can have a significant impact on the entire organization both financially and emotionally. Business owners and executives need to make the shift from blind trust to intelligent trust to ensure they are able to spot and prevent employee theft.”
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