employee theft — Page 34

Employee theft in Atlanta #1 source of reatil loss

September 3, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

25% of economy in Atlanta is based on retail and close to half of all retail inventory losses are due to employee theft. Imagine what a boost the Atlanta economy would realize if businesses cut their losses in half or more.

Employee theft accounts for the largest source of inventory loss to retailers beating out the #2 source, shoplifting. Many retailers are surprised to find that the people they trust and socialize with are stealing them blind.

The University of Florida reports annually on retail security and the report is considered to be the “Bible” of the loss prevention world. In the 2009 study they found that 42.7% of inventory loss was due to employee theft and 14.4% involved collusion. Employees are teaming up with friends and family giving them the inside scoop of how things work in the retail store. They offer tips on how to avoid security cameras and even check them out and pass merchandise through without scanning it.

An Atlanta store owner called us because he suspected a long time employee of taking cash from the register and from back office receipts. During our investigation, it was determined that the store had also been losing merchandise at a higher that normal rate, and the cause of the shortage was unknown. After determining some of the items (some of the items were one-of-a-kind), our investigator found evidence of an Ebay store that had the items for sale. For more CSI (Caught Stealing Incidents) go here: CSI.

The good news is this problem can be identified and stopped. For help with your employee theft issues in Atlanta visit Loss Prevention Systems today.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: employee theft

Employee Theft…Management Is Creating It?

September 1, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Employee theft also known as internal theft causes close to 50% of retail business loss. In the thirty years of conducting employee theft investigations it still shocks me what a poor job most businesses do in common sense prevention. A good example of this is an employee theft investigation I did where $5000 in fraudulent business checks were cashed. It turned out that the back stock of checks were unsecured in a storeroom with office supplies. Janitor’s stole twenty 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. The checks should be issued and logged out to the person that processes them.

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

Another employee theft investigation 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. The alarm system was not set up to log opens and closes. So coming back at night and loading up a truck was not a problem.

Employee theft or internal 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. If you don’t then make sure you budget for employee theft investigations.

For more information, contact us about internal theft or call 1.770.426.0547

Employee Theft Investigations…What is your policy?

August 28, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

No matter if your business is big or small; you should have a policy for employee theft investigation. There are many definitions of employee theft; stealing, falsifying documents, theft from possessions of customers, embezzlement. According to the US Chamber of Commerce, employee theft is costing American businesses $40 billion dollars annually. Yes, that was BILLION with a B!!

Employee theft investigations can be tricky. The first precaution is always using a third party investigator. But how will your employees know if they are breaking the rules? You should always have a WRITTEN employee theft POLICY. This policy will outline disciplinary actions and also define what stealing is!

Then you should have a written policy outlining how the employee theft investigation will be done. For instance, have the policy outline things such as how personal articles would be searched in the event of an investigation. Also outline how things such as lockers or company property should be treated and used. Even misuse of a company computer can be considered employee theft, but actions such as these would be very hard to terminate based on that if a policy is not in place.

Lastly, always ensure that your management team leads by example. If an employee theft investigation is underway, but management has never led by example and always violates the written policy, you may not have any leg to stand on to prosecute or terminate.

For additional information on employee theft investigation, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: employee theft, employee theft investigation

Corporate Fraud Investigator Finds Atlanta Assistant Manager Steals A Little Of Everything!

August 26, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Our corporate fraud investigator initiated an employee theft investigation at the request of the Vice President of a local Atlanta retail store chain. The VP stated to that he had discovered information that an Assistant Manager (AM) of one of their metro Atlanta stores may be involved in internal theft and the destruction and of $305 in merchandise.

To gather additional information and investigative leads our corporate fraud investigator interviewed another Assistant Manager. She stated that she had observed the fellow AM give away merchandise to hourly employees. She also stated that she had observed him steal and consume candy offered for sale by the store. She had not considered this to be internal theft.

Another informational interview was conducted with an Hourly Employee. He stated that he had been given store merchandise by the AM to take home without payment. He also stated that he and other associates had been directed by the AM to throw away merchandise that the AM said were discontinued. He also said the volume of merchandise filled the dumpster. In addition he said that on another occasion after a customer complaint situation that the AM directed him to lie to the District Manager.

An interview was conducted by our corporate fraud investigator with the AM. During the interview he admitted to the theft of $300 in merchandise, $1800 in cash and the destruction and give away of $12,000 in merchandise. He stated that he stole merchandise for his own use and that he routinely consumed candy without payment. His last employee theft was the day before his interview. He said that he stole cash via fraudulent refunds, post voids and by taking overages from the POS. He could not give a reason for his internal theft.

The AM also stated that he destroyed merchandise to clean up the store rather than going through the markdown procedure. He estimates that he discarded approximately 480 items valued at $25 each over several weeks.

All information and investigative facts developed during this employee theft investigation were turned over to the Vice President. The AM was terminated and criminal charges were filed with a local Atlanta police department.

To stop employee theft you must have systems in place to catch even small discrepancies. Don’t ignore this information. The information about a small issue may lead to a much larger loss, which is typical in employee theft investigations.

In Atlanta contact us about corporate fraud investigator or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: corporate fraud, corporate fraud investigator, employee theft, employee theft investigation, internal theft

They Didn’t Stop Employee Theft Soon Enough!

August 24, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Simply put waiting to stop employee theft will just cost a business more in the end.

An employee theft investigation was initiated at the request of the Owner of a retail store chain located in the Atlanta metro area. The owner stated that his Accounting department had discovered a loss of cash and merchandise of approximately $28, 308.00. This loss was attributed to the one store.

The owner explained the procedures and operations of the company. In addition, a review of the background of the three employees at the store was conducted.

An interview was conducted with one employee. During the interview the employee admitted to the theft of $ 23, 250.00 in cash from the store. He stated that he needed the money for bills including child support, fuel, food, a car note, clothing and because of garnishments, which decreased his take home pay.

The employee stated that he stole approximately $100 each day he worked. He stated that he did this by not ringing selected transactions into the cash register and pocketing the money.

He admitted that he had been stealing for 14 months. The employee further stated he stole every day he worked, which was five to six days a week. He said that he stole in that manner three out of four weeks. He said that the last time he stole cash was the day before the interview.

The employee also stated that he stole merchandise valued at an average of $40.00 each month by giving it to friends.

The employee incorporated his admissions into a voluntary written statement. As a result of the employee theft investigation criminal charges were filed with a Metro Atlanta area Police Department.

You must be proactive to stop employee theft . I have found that after a business looks back at a typical employee theft investigation they find that they waited entirely too long before taking action.

More info? Contact us in the Atlanta area to stop employee theft or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: employee theft, employee theft investigation, internal theft

Hire a Corporate Fraud Investigator to get the truth and build a rock solid case

August 13, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Serious employee theft issues require the use of a corporate fraud investigator to get the best results.

Let’s look at how the FBI defines corporate fraud :

Corporate fraud investigations involve the following activities:

(1) Falsification of financial information, including:

(a) False accounting entries;
(b) Bogus trades designed to inflate profit or hide losses; and,
(c) False transactions designed to evade regulatory oversight.

(2) Self-dealing by corporate insiders, including:

(a) Insider trading;
(b) Kickbacks;
(c) Backdating of executive stock options;
(d) Misuse of corporate property for personal gain; and,
(e) Individual tax violations related to self-dealing.

(3) Obstruction of justice designed to conceal any of the above-noted types of criminal conduct, particularly when the obstruction impedes the inquiries of the SEC, other regulatory agencies, and/or law enforcement agencies.

Sometimes there is only one employee that commits the corporate fraud and other times there are more involved. Uncovering these issues and building a rock solid case in order to get the truth, a criminal conviction (if desired) and quite possibly even recovering losses are not something corporations are set up to do themselves.

Typically a corporate fraud investigator will work as part of a team. This team will also consist of one or more attorneys and one or more Certified Forensic Examiners (CPA with fraud investigation training).

Go to corporate fraud investigator to learn more.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: corporate fraud, corporate fraud investigation, corporate fraud investigator, employee theft

Employee Theft Investigation

August 12, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

An employee theft investigation should be conducted whenever employee theft is suspected. We have seen many business owners that hesitate or simply bury their head in the sand and pretend that theft is not occurring or will go away. Over the years the University of Florida study routinely shows that employee theft accounts for approximately 48% of business losses.

The fact is that if left unchecked employee theft will escalate. If the employee got away with it the first time they will continue to steal. Those who do not attack the issue normally will not prosper. We have even seen businesses tolerate employee theft because they do not want to lose an “important or trusted” employee. That begs the question how important or trusted is that person who is stealing? Leaving this person in place is business suicide. We have recently conducting an employee theft investigation of a person who has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars and was not terminated because the business owner was afraid to let this “important” person go.

No one is that important to a business that employee theft should be ignored. An employee theft investigation is normally a fast simple investigation. Go to the police? No, most law enforcement agencies do not have the expertise or time to do a proper investigation. Use an experienced LP Investigator.

More information on employee theft investigation contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

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Proactive Theft Prevention

August 5, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Retail loss prevention experts agree, and endless studies and industry surveys confirm, that a large portion of shrink – unexplained inventory losses – as well as cash shortages are caused by employee theft.

The question retailers suffering from employee theft might ask themselves is this: Did I employ a thief or did my policies and procedures encourage a formerly honest person to steal?

An employer can’t know what is in the mind of a potential employee. But he is able to check into the employee’s past to determine if there is a history of involvement in property crimes like theft, or crimes of violence such as assault and/or battery through a thorough background investigation. The past of an applicant can be revealed by a criminal history check in the jurisdiction where the applicant lives through an examination of public records relating to arrests, convictions, and sentences handed down by the local courts. Although a past record is not an absolute indicator of future behavior, it can be argued that a person with several arrests for similar crimes can be expected to revert to that behavior at some time.

A person’s history of drug or alcohol abuse might also be revealed and considered.

If your employees have access to your property and cash, or have contact with the public, a background investigation can reduce your losses as well as your liability for an employee’s actions.

It makes sense to start with an honest employee.

For more information, go to: Background Screening

Filed Under: Employee Theft, Uncategorized Tagged With: Background checks, employee theft