employee theft investigation

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

September 26, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

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

Employee Theft In Atlanta It Cant Happen To Me!?!

September 24, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I conducted an employee theft investigation here in the Atlanta area recently where our client was hit by a long term Assistant Manager (AM) who stole approximately $48,000 in cash. The AM did this by manipulating the clients accounting systems and POS.

Employee theft which is also referred to as internal theft or white collar crime impacted this client very hard. This person was a trusted individual that had been given quite a bit of authority. In fact the client now realizes that the AM was given too much unchecked authority.

It turns out that the AM has a gambling problem. The owners of the company suspected this. What is concerning is that this did not raise a red flag. When we guide the client through a review of the employee theft investigation once we are done and the employee is on his way to jail the response is almost always the same, “why didn’t I see this? It is so clear now”. The reasons they didn’t see it are many:

They include a desire that we all have to see the best in people.

We do not want to think that a person we hired and like could betray us.

We can get blinders on and do not pay attention because we are “busy”.

We also use personal trust instead of business trust (this person is considered a friend).

Employee theft is not an important part of the business decision-making process.

It boils down to this. If you do not have a loss prevention mindset and consider employee theft something that can’t happen to you then you will experience employee theft or internal theft first hand. Wake up and see what is going on around you. This is not personal it is a business. There are a segment of employees (1 in 10) that WILL commit employee theft in your business.

So what are you doing about it? Do you have a business mind set in loss prevention policy and procedure? Are you making hiring decisions with loss prevention as part of the process? Do you have a loss prevention audit in place (loss prevention audits are designed to expose employee fraud , internal theft , corporate fraud and white collar crime )?

You must have check and balance in your business operations otherwise you will be seeing employee theft up front and personal. If you have blinders on or think it cant happen to me, chances are it is happening to you now.

For more information about employee fraud , internal theft , white collar crime or employee theft investigation in Atlanta contact us about employee fraud or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: corporate fraud, employee fraud, employee theft, employee theft investigation, internal theft, white collar crime

New Tools In Employee Theft Investigation – Atlanta

September 20, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Conducting an employee theft investigation is a complicated undertaking best left to professionals. However, in the past several years a new CCTV tool has not only become available but the cost is now very reasonable. This tool is the link between a retailers CCTV system and their POS.

Employee theft at the POS was always time intensive. You had to match up the detail tape to the CCTV recording of the cashier at the POS. Time stamps on both systems never matched up and even when they did it was very difficult to keep going back and forth between the two.

Now imagine this, you are conducting an employee theft investigation of a cashier. But now the POS terminal data show up on the same screen with the video of the cashier and customer.

Now we see in perfectly synchronized clarity both together. As the cashier is ringing up a pack of gum but actually bagging up DVD’s we see it as clear as day. That type of employee theft is as old as theft itself. But now there is no question at all what happened.

The cool thing about this new technology is that many new DVR’s have this great corporate fraud investigation tool built in. A simple connection is made from the POS terminal to the DVR, usually a CAT 5 cable. There is normally a little programming at the DVR as there are so many different POS systems out there that it simply needs a little adjustment.

Employee theft at the POS is now exposed quickly and easily. The best part is that the system is running 24/7. So when you catch onto an employee theft scheme and begin your investigation it is easy to go back and do research. This is another good argument for adequate drive storage on your DVR.

For more information contact us about employee theft investigation in Atlanta or call 1.770.426.0547

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

Employee Theft Investigation In Atlanta-How To!

September 18, 2010 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

An employee theft investigation is a key factor in a proactive loss prevention environment. Today’s retailers face a number of different factors contributing to the losses of sales, service and safety. Understanding these concerns and having a solid plan in place will make a huge impact to your business profitability. Although there is no fool-proof way to stop employees from “stealing”, there are ways to recover what you’ve lost and help prevent these issues from taking over. It is said that on average, retailers can directly attribute approx. 70% of their losses to employee theft. In some instances, unchecked employee theft can close and ruin businesses.

What can you do to jumpstart an employee theft investigation? Identify the problem. The problem could be cash shortages, empty packages in “employee only” areas, poor inventory results or as simple as missing office supplies (pens, pencils etc.). These are all possible factors when identifying employee theft issues. Isolate the issue. Who had access to these areas? Was a manager involved? Narrowing down the suspected employees is as important as knowing what you’ve lost. Was the employee on the register missing the money? Who was in the “employee only” area when the packages were found? Gather the evidence. For cash shortages, utilize journal tape or electronic register journals. Identify cash transactions where large bills of $50 or more were used.

Confidentially talk with other employees, listen for those with financial problems at home or other personal issues. Be thorough, and document your findings when conducting your employee theft investigation.

Well, are you ready to talk with the suspected employee(s)? It is usually best to leave this part to the professionals; however, having due diligence and a solid investigation will almost always overshadow the dishonest employee’s ability to deny his or her wrongdoing.

You didn’t set out to have to watch over your employees, and you shouldn’t have to. Stay profitable; always perform a thorough employee theft investigation when a potential problem has been found.

For more information about employee theft in Atlanta contact us about employee theft investigation or call 1.770.426.0547

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

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

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

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

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

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