Employee Theft Surprises Everyone

The true costs of employee theft may never really be known. However, in the retail world, employee theft can be prevented with the right loss prevention awareness program.

A small chain of stores that I oversee as a corporate fraud investigator recently went through an annual inventory process. The shrink numbers coming back showed obvious signs of internal theft. I went to each store to gather more information and to start an employee theft investigation. At the first store, I looked at all available exception reports, narrowing down issues that occurred on the registers. I reviewed hours of footage on CCTV and built a case file. Looking at schedules of all employees, I started eliminating the least likely. After, I compiled all associates I felt may be involved or have knowledge of internal theft.

This employee theft investigation exposed 5 different employees at one location. As my investigation continued, I interviewed each employee, asking questions of a general nature. The first employee admitted to theft and implicated other employees he knew were involved with internal theft. This employee also told me of a manager that was the ring leader in a big portion of this theft. I continued with the employee theft investigation, gather admission statements, witness statements and finalized the cases. Once all was said and done, I took the results of my employee theft investigation to the owners.

Employee theft was something no one at this company wanted to acknowledge. Employees at these stores were “honest”, and paid well… so according to the owners, these employees would have no reason to steal. Being the corporate fraud investigator, I showed them the results of the cases. They could not believe what the employees had been involved with. In fact, they were so surprised; they closed one store for 24 hours to speak with all associates about what had happened.

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For more information on internal theft, corporate fraud investigator, or employee theft investigation please contact us at employee theft or call 1.770.426.0547