employee theft — Page 23

When should I call for a Corporate Fraud Investigator?

July 2, 2011 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Loss Prevention Systems experienced Employee theft investigator ‘s are known for having conducted thousands of varying employee theft investigation ‘s for all types of companies. Large companies with experienced senior staff and the smallest of companies that are less than 5 employees, any company that suspected internal theft. One problem that we consistently see with all of them is that clients don’t call us untill it is late in the process. It is not an issue for us but it normally does cost the client more. Because we generally have to start over with much of the investigation.

Most people including some of the most savvy business people I have ever met are like a fish out of water in these situations. Because of this they do not know how to build proper corporate fraud investigation s. And because they all watch CSI, they try to be their own employee theft investigator. It is not like what we see on TV, far from it.

Our job is to build a thorough corporate fraud investigation, which will prevail with civil, and criminal courts and serve to effectively block unemployment claim if the client so desires. Most company executives are frustrated in these situations because they are missing a key business element that they must have to make their every day business decisions. That is control. They do not know what to do. We provide and therefore restore that sense of and actual control.

Why not just call the police or FBI you ask? They have a staff of professional investigators. They have the skills. Of course they do. But as anyone in my field knows the chances of getting law enforcement to do this type of corporate fraud investigation is like playing the lottery. It isn’t that they do not want to or do not have the skill. The fact is that there are too many investigations assigned to them and they cannot actually work one to the extent necessary to get the investigation where it need to go. The average police detective in the U.S. is assigned 40 +/- investigations in a thirty-day period. They are civil servants and work a 40-hour workweek. How many of those 40 investigations do you really think get worked?

On the other side we at LPSI assign a single corporate fraud investigator per investigation. That corporate fraud investigator will work on it from start to finish and that time frame is short depending on the case. Even complicated ones. Most of the delays we experience is the client trying to catch up with us.

SO when should you call? Save yourself some money and call right away before you start firing people, calling the police and defiantly before the losses and investigation becomes water cooler gossip.

For more information about corporate fraud investigator or internal theft , employee theft or employee theft investigation please contact us through corporate fraud investigation or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

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Employee Theft – What You Don’t Know Will Hurt You – Atlanta Georgia

June 29, 2011 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

There are a couple of common denominators in over 90% of the employee theft cases that I’ve been involved in as a corporate fraud investigator over the years, and they are 1) The perpetrator held a position of trust; and 2) The thief started taking small amounts and became bolder as he continued to steal and stole more and more until he was caught.

A business owner who undertakes his own employee theft investigation does so from a position of having an employer/employee relationship with the people he suspects may be stealing from him. Although the employee may see his actions as being taken against an impersonal company, the company owner or manager sees it as a personal affront, in effect taking money out of the employer’s own pocket. This is not the best place from which to impartially look at a potential internal theft situation, as emotions are likely to enter into a situation that requires an objective look to remain impartial.

The employer often has a tendency to rush into the employee theft investigation to find the guilty party, confront them, and get them out of the business. Haste in this case can be costly because early into the investigation, there is undeveloped knowledge about both the depth and the scope of the employee theft. How many are involved and how long have they been doing it? These are important questions that need to be asked and answered for the health of the business.

All the employees who were involved in the theft and all who knew about it and didn’t speak up should be disciplined and separated from the company.

A corporate fraud investigator is frequently called upon to investigate cases of internal theft, whether it’s money, merchandise, company property, or even intellectual property.

The corporate fraud investigator has a good working knowledge of business operations based on experience in both investigations and exposing vulnerabilities in the operations of different types of businesses through audits and policy formulation.

The causes of internal theft can be complex and not the result of a single employee, and the corporate fraud investigator is experienced and qualified to get to the root cause of the problem and fine a viable solution for the business, whether it’s a hole in the procedure or out and out employee theft.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation , internal theft , or to speak with a corporate fraud investigator contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

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Employee Theft Interviews

June 22, 2011 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

So, you’re a corporate fraud investigator and it’s time for you to conduct an employee theft interview. We all know that the ultimate goal of your interview is to get the subject to confess that they have taken part in some sort of internal theft, right? Well, what you may not know is that what the subject does is just as important as what they say. Non-verbal communication makes up 90% of the average person’s daily communication. Therefore, as a corporate fraud investigator it is extremely beneficial for you to know what to look for in order to quickly and efficiently get that confession that you so desperately want.

The phrase “neuro linguistic programming” refers to the almost involuntary movement of your eyes when asked a direct question. How is this useful in an employee theft interview? Well, let’s say you’re smack dab in the middle of an employee theft investigation and you ask your subject, “What happened in the cash office on Tuesday night?” Watch their eyes. If they look up and to the left (the part of the brain that controls imagination) they’re most likely making up a story to tell you. Conversely, if they look up and to the right (the part of the brain that controls memory) they’re likely trying to remember exactly what happened Tuesday night.

During an employee theft investigation, an individual’s body movements, posture, etc. can all be visual clues as to whether it is the right time to close in and push for that admission of internal theft. If someone sits with their arms folded indignantly staring at you and denying all wrong-doing through most of the interview then suddenly drops their arms, slumps their shoulders and stares at the ground it’s a good indication that mentally they’ve given up and it’s time for you to close in. As a corporate fraud investigator it is vital that you understand the part that non-verbals play in the employee theft interview process.

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For more information in internal theft , employee theft , employee theft investigation or a corporate fraud investigator contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

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Exactly what is the primary cause of Employee theft in Atlanta GA?

June 19, 2011 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

We know from long experience in the corporate fraud investigation field that there are many reasons for the employee theft you may be experiencing. Greed, want, need are all reasons. We as employers can do little to effect the reasons except to do the best we can to screen out potential problems. Criminal background checks find problems such as candidates with poor criminal histories; candidates that have a poor credit history who may be handling our money and drug abusers top the list

But what are the CAUSES of employee theft? In the 2010 Global Fraud Study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners it was found that the leading primary internal theft weakness is…”Lack of Internal Controls”. In organizations with less than 100 employees it amounts to 47% (over 100 employees equals 33.7%). There is not even a close second.

Keep in mind that the cause is something that we as business leaders have complete control over. Yet business appear to do little, or clearly not enough, to protect the fragile margins we have. I believe that there are two reasons for this.

Number one is that it seems in many cases there is a lack of strong leadership. The kind of leadership that people understand and respect. An understanding by employees at all levels that strong controls that the company has in place will not under any circumstances be violated and that such violation is not open to interpretation. The violation of these procedures will be met with strict and immediate punishment at all levels. This draws a line in the sand.

Number two is that even when that line in the sand is drawn we find it to hard or we are too busy to maintain it. Because of this that line in the sand is quickly washed away by the waves. We then find ourselves a year later scratching our heads trying to make sense of why we are having yet another corporate fraud investigation another serious internal theft or series of employee theft incidents have occurred.

Want to bring internal theft under control once and for all? Make your line in the sand a granite wall with no compromise that the waves will not affect.

For more information about employee theft or a consultation for a corporate fraud investigation in Atlanta GA contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

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Employee Theft and Delegation of Duties

June 16, 2011 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

There is one recurring theme seems to be present in almost every employee theft investigation that I have been involved in, and that is that the employee was inadequately supervised or had too much autonomous control over an area of the business.

I was having dinner with a friend who works in bank administration, and we were discussing the problems of internal theft (not great dinner conversation, I’ll grant you.) She remarked that at the bank where she was employed, every employee who handled cash and certain other financial transactions was required to take two straight weeks off each year, so that another employee had to take over responsibility for the person’s job for that period of time. This was done to avoid internal theft.

Then I thought of all the employee theft investigation that I have reviewed over the years, and how many of the thefts were discovered or suspected when the employee had to take extended time off for illness or other unforeseen reason.

These cases of internal theft were more often than not met with disbelief by management and co-workers who admired the person because he was so dedicated that “she never took vacation” or “he never wanted anyone to help him with his work”. Only later do they discover the reason why the person was so dedicated, and that was because it is much easier to cover one’s tracks when no one is checking up or adequately supervising one’s work.

One of the best and most efficient methods to avoid prolonged periods of internal theft is to institute a policy requiring periodic audits of every employee who has access to company assets, particularly in the accounting arena. Allowing the same employee to control payables, receivables, and payroll is too often asking for employee theft to happen. Delegating parts of the process will frequently avoid taking advantage of this situation. The employee theft investigation sometimes comes too late to recover all that’s been stolen.

But don’t overlook employees in shipping and receiving who handle merchandise and take out the trash. Is your merchandise in the trash to be picked up later. Many companies wisely conduct trash audits to avoid theft opportunities.

Every business owner needs to consider if their “best employee” is really that or are they covering up their own employee theft.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation , or internal theft , contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

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Internal Theft Investigation Techniques

June 15, 2011 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

It is paramount that you understand from the outset that an internal theft is not a triple homicide and an employee theft investigation is not an episode of CSI: Miami. You will never get anyone with the intelligence of a grasshopper to cop to employee theft by sitting them in a dimly lit room and grilling them over and over again. This only works on TV- really bad TV. The best way to achieve your goal (which, by the way, is a confession) is to gain the subjects trust, put them at ease and inform them that you’re here to help.

Hopefully you’ve nearly concluded your employee theft investigation by the time you sit an individual down to speak to them about an internal theft matter. Therefore you have gathered some proof about their wrong-doing, whether it be a policy violation or plain old employee theft, you know what you’re looking for. Frame your questions and statements in a non-threatening format. Avoid words like: Steal, Crime, Jail, Police, etc. Instead use words like: Took, Borrowed, Lost, etc. You want to put the subject at ease by minimizing the perceived severity of the infraction. Nobody is going to call up jail to make reservations. Ease their mind and their resistance by letting them see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Almost everyone will initially deny having committed employee theft. Help them to rationalize what it is that they’ve done. Give them excuses: The economy is bad, gas prices are so high, baby needs a new pair of shoes. Whatever will get them talking and feeling like you understand their pain and that you’re there to help. The next time you’re faced with an internal theft case remember these techniques and you’ll conclude your employee theft investigation with greater speed and efficiency.

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For more information contact us at Internal Theft or call 1.770.426.0547

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Is lax management causing employee theft in Atlanta GA?

June 11, 2011 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Internal theft, also known as employee theft, causes close to 50% of retail business loss each year. In the thirty years of preforming employee theft investigations I am still shocked by what a poor job most businesses do in common sense loss prevention. A good example of one of the instances was an employee theft investigation that I did where $5000 in fraudulent business checks were cashed. It turned out that the back stock of checks were unsecure in a storeroom with office supplies. Janitor’s stole20 some checks from the middle of the stack waited a month and them began to cash them. Those checks should have been secured under lock and key with strict access.

Every day we drop our guard because it is more difficult to do it the right way. Doing it the right way will prevent employee theft. The key is “prevention”. Or we say, “oh I trust that person, they would never do that”. Those words get more and more businesses in trouble everyday. When a management person says that they are basically saying that they have no common business sense.

Another case involved employees that stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in product from a distribution center they worked in. They were given keys to the facility that had millions of dollars of merchandise in it, with no alarm system. So coming back at night and loading up a truck was easy.

Internal theft or employee theft lurks around every corner. You have to be proactive to prevent it. Internal theft will not go away or stop on its own. In fact it will get worse. Get your policy manual off the shelf, dust it off, update it and make sure people understand that this is your “business bible”, live it and enforce it. That does not mean that it never changes, far from it. As your business changes your policy and procedures should change.

For more information on an employee theft investigation in Atlanta, GA contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

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Communication and Internal Theft

June 8, 2011 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Proper communication is key in preventing internal theft. Without it you open yourself and your company up to a great deal of potential loss. For several years I worked as a Corporate Fraud Investigator for a local supermarket chain. As great as that position was, when the time came I moved on and took another position at a completely different company. Apparently no one got the memo. The other day a few friends and I were on our way to a baseball game and stopped in to pick up a few tailgating supplies. One of the managers recognized me, shook my hand, asked how I had been and then promptly opened the door to the surveillance office for me using his key.

I understand that my previous position as Corporate Fraud Investigator afforded me some trust, but that manager missed all the employee theft red flags: He hadn’t seen me in a while. I was accompanied by people he had never seen before. I was dressed for a baseball game (completely unprofessional). I had to quickly explain the situation to the manager who was completely embarrassed.

The fact is: lesser men would have taken that opportunity to commit some kind of internal theft. After all, as a Corporate Fraud Investigator I would have known exactly how to get around any of the usual behaviors that might have given me away as a thief. Most employee theft happens as a result of perceived opportunity. Had I been a disgruntled ex employee I might have easily taken advantage of the situation. An individual may not have gotten to work intending to steal but because a door was left opened or unlocked, merchandise untagged, or any other safety measure not taken they will. This occasionally opens a Pandora’s Box where that individual begins to seek out similar situations throughout the company and before you know it you’re out of thousands of dollars all because the proper precautions and necessary communication wasn’t taken in order to prevent internal theft.

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For more information on an Internal Theft Investigator in Atlanta, GA ; Employee theft or Internal theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

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Corporate Fraud and trust relationships in Atlanta GA

June 4, 2011 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

In my over 30 years of experience in corporate fraud investigation a sad but simple reality had come to my attention. Management uses the wrong kind of trust when dealing with employees, assets, cash and the rest. I have finished the employee theft investigation, the employee has confessed and we are filing criminal charges. At that point the manager or owner says something like “I trusted that person”.

They feel guilty, are angry and question their own skills. They often feel as if they should have seen the employee theft coming. It is not their skills that they should be questioning. In this world there are two kinds of trust: personal trust and business trust.

Personal trust is the kind you have with your best buddy. They are always there for you and you for them.

Business trust is defined in three words: Trust But Verify. That’s it! You do not have the luxury of doing anything else.

The most reasons that we end up doing a corporate fraud investigation is that management uses personal trust in a business environment. They simply don’t see their “friends” being involved in employee theft. This is business not personal and if your management style is to be “friends” with your employee then you should probably change careers. You are responsible for an incredible amount of assets and liability and if employee theft is occurring because you’re using the wrong kind of trust with your employees you are responsible. As a professional you realize that you must protect those assets to keep the company profitable, which insures that, your employees have a job.

To do this you must trust but verify. I am not advocating that you are always watching over people’s shoulders. In fact a healthy work environment gives employees the ability to grow and do things in their own style. So what do you do? Here is an example; you receive a shipment. The person who is responsible for checking it in is almost finished. Pull part of the paperwork and recheck 10% of it. When they say to you “I just did that” you reply, “ It looks like you did a great job too, it is accurate, thank you and good work”.

As a professional you cannot afford to use personal trust in a business environment unless a frequent employee theft investigation is your thing.

For more information on employee theft or an employee theft investigation contact us at corporate fraud investigation in Atlanta GA or call 1.770.426.0547

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Internal Theft Investigation and the Real World – Atlanta Georgia

June 1, 2011 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

An employee theft investigation is a situation most business owners and managers are uncomfortable with. This is understandable since this is a criminal and civil situation that the average businessperson rarely deals with. Because of this uncomfortable situation, there are trained employee theft investigator s . When an employee commits internal theft by stealing cash, merchandise, time or supplies they commit a clear crime. Most of the time the amount warrants felony criminal charges.

Internal theft in the “real world” happens in every business with employees. We would like to think that the person we hired would not steal from us. But the sad fact is that many do. Internal theft also known as employee theft many times is committed by some of the most “trusted” employees. The problem is management’s definition of “trust”. Many managers and owners use personal trust in a business environment.

Personal trust is the trust you have in a friend or spouse. You may trust them with your life, house, car or dog. But you do not trust them with your business! In my experience most employee theft flourishes in this environment.

Business trust involves something called “trust but verify”. A good supervisor prevents employee theft and thus the need for an employee theft investigation by not simply assuming that work tasks are accomplished the way you want them. Following up on what and how an employee for instance is checking in stock keeps them on track and cuts down on mistakes and let’s the employee know you are involved. A simple audit of what the employee is doing or has done with feed back to them both positive and negative lets the employee know that any dishonest actions have a good chance of being discovered. Many times employee theft takes root when the employee feels that no one cares or knows what they do.

The same hold true for a corporate fraud investigation. Executives at all levels must be held accountable. Audits by CFO’s should be conducted at all levels. An outside auditing firm can also be used to conduct company reviews. You must tell them to include this type of review with their work.

But for the average small business a corporate fraud investigation will never be needed. Focus should be placed on control of all assets. This can be accomplished with a loss prevention audit or by simply being engaged at all levels.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation , internal theft , corporate fraud investigation or corporate fraud investigator contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

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