Embezzlement during employment 2
What can we help you with?
Click below:
- Investigation into corporate crime
- Hidden cameras
- Absenteeism
- Pre-employment screening/background screening
- Surveillance
- Investigation into compliance with non-competition clause/relationship fraud/confidentiality fraud
- Tracing listening devices
- Security Auditing
- Preparation of Risk Assessment and Evaluation
- Forensic IT investigation
- Preparation of emergency plans
- Security Consulting
- Interim Security Management
- Investigation into industrial espionage and leaks
- Test purchase and quality control services
- Facility support
- 24 hour helpdesk
Embezzlement during employment 2
A while ago we were contacted by a retailer, who requested investigation on a superficial yet suspicious issue. He thought it was strange that his shop showed higher sales on days that one of his cashiers was away on holiday. More than enough reason to request an introductory interview with one of BN’s consultants.
After our consultants had concentrated on the matter, it was decided to conduct a 14 day video surveillance on the cash desk area. Viewing the video images obtained is extremely time-consuming when it involves a busy shop with constant money transactions between customers and cashiers. We had therefore agreed with the client that he would view the images, made by equipment provided by us, himself.
We presumed that we would indeed require 14 days of investigation as we had agreed upon, in order to put together all the pieces of the puzzle. As it turned out, we did not.
After the cashier’s first day back at work we received a call from our client. Overwrought, he informed us about what he had witnessed on the first day. It appeared the cashier appropriated a 100€ bill almost every hour. She subsequently put the bills in her left trouser pocket, her right trouser pocket, her back pockets, and the soles of her shoes, everything recorded by our probing camera. Clearly our client was not inclined to allow ‘the lady’ to continue her activities for another 14 days.
Upon next day’s opening of the shop we shook her hand twice. Once for saying good morning and once for saying goodbye forever. In the meantime she confessed embezzlement to our client’s disadvantage for 3 months.
All in all: on average around 800€ per day X 60 working days is nearly 48.000€. Her method was really very simple: some of the purchases of over 20€ were simply not recorded into the cash register. Most customers did not ask for a receipt so they did not get one either. Obviously, an adequate recording system of all purchases per outlet would have shown that the high purchases did not match the poor sales.
The cashier was summarily dismissed, faces criminal charges and a civil claim to repay for the illegally appropriated gains.
Our client will not be doing any gambling for a while… prior to our investigation, he had bet his life on the girl’s ‘loyalty’.
REPORT ANONYMOUSLY?
Anonymous reporting was established in collaboration with (your) employer(s) and Bedrijfsrecherche Nederland B.V.