Embezzlement Archives - Page 4 of 5 - All in Investigations

Catching an Internal Thief with Video Technology

Lifelong friends Jeff and Chris came to visit the other day. Jeff is a local business owner who built a successful real estate management company and Chris is his attorney. It was Chris who scheduled the meeting. Jeff really didn’t think it was necessary, but because he trusted Chris, he came along. The thing is that Chris had been working with the accounting firm that handles Jeff's books. He thinks he uncovered some discrepancies, but the accounting checks and balances seem to be in order. According to Chris, there is one common denominator in every record in question – and that is Jeff’s secretary, Margot. Jeff keeps saying that he trusts Margot – she’s worked for him for years – 13 to be exact and [...]

When Your Quest is Truth; Hire a Private Investigator

Law officers and ambulance drivers, emergency room doctors and defense attorneys often boast that they see the weirdest of the weird. But sometimes the weird stories can be added to the discussion by adjustors for insurance companies. One particular story involves an adjustor in Colorado and her claimant, who insisted that her vehicle had dropped into a vertical mine shift. Knowing that the police department had no time to search endless acres of rocky terrain in the area of Baily, Colorado, the adjustor called on a private investigator. She asked the private investigator to do everything they could to locate the missing vehicle and solve the fishy-sounding story. After many long hours and long days of searching the rough terrain in off-road vehicles, the investigators [...]

Digital Forensics is Now Available to Public

You have probably heard the story about how ex-Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich spends his time these days. Right? He’s behind bars, serving a 14-year sentence for public corruption. A computer forensics expert found enough evidence for more than 18 charges to be filed against Blagojevich. He was caught trying to sell or trade a vacant U.S. Senate seat after President Obama left the Senate for the White House. Because the world continues to demand more and more expertise with technology, digital forensics is in high demand. Defined as the application of science and engineering for the purpose of retrieving digital evidence in a legally acceptable manner, computer forensic analysis is not only used by police detectives. are also well-versed in this area, with the ability [...]

Do You Have a Trail of Paperwork That Reveals Employee Embezzlement?

Employee embezzlement is a major problem, especially for small businesses. I recently read an article by Todd Frankel of the St. Louis Dispatch, “Wave of embezzlement cases hits St. Louis region.” Case after case spoke of employees: Getting reimbursements in “office expenses” Improperly documenting vehicle impound fees and pocketing the money Creating fraudulent invoices and making payments to dummy vendors (themselves) Skimming money by adding a fee to an invoice, then taking the money once the invoice is paid Theft by employees is increasing, according to a poll of the members of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Looking at the cases, embezzlement by employee after employee shows that the theft occurs over a long period of time and is taken in small amounts. Unlike [...]

Think Computer Forensic Services if you are Concerned about Employee Theft

Employee theft can take many forms, not just stealing cash from the register or lifting product out the backdoor to an associate. In fact, in a recent article on American Express Open Forum, Barry Moltz lists several you might not have even considered, although he says they are common. Set up fake vendor accounts. Steal checks Falsify expense accounts. Buddy punching (timecards) Steal data Most of these can be precluded through strict protocol and a system of checks and balances. If you suspect employee theft, can step in and bring the truth to light. First, computer forensic examination reveals not just documentation to confirm wrongdoing, but also can identify groups of employees conspiring through email and other communications. Even if the employee deletes emails, a [...]

When an Investigation Takes a Turn, Has the Experts

There is so much to say about employee theft and employee embezzlement investigations that it is difficult to sort it out into just one topic. And that’s what we find the clients of count on us for when they call. We are a one-stop service provider, we can provide whatever services are needed – here, in-house. Our clients don’t have to go to one service provider for handwriting analysis, another for covert surveillance and yet one other for computer forensic analysis or cell tower triangulation. does it all and this is why that is so very important: The attorney for a medium-sized small business contacted our office. His client was the company owner. The owner had caught what he thought was evidence of a long-time [...]

Investigations and Social Security Numbers

Few people think much about their social security number, other than protecting it from identity thieves. But the actual number was – in the past – very telling. conducts a lot of investigation of specific people for a wide variety of reasons: A missing person investigation An identity theft An asset search Due diligence for personal or professional reasons Insurance fraud And a social security number can be a source of leads and information. But a relatively recent change adds some new challenges – and opportunities. The first three digits of a social security number used to stand for something specific. Each state had a certain series of numbers and other groups, like railroad workers, their social security number always began with digits from 700 [...]

What Business Owners Need to Know About Theft by Employees and Employee Embezzlement

Theft by employees is rampant – just ask any business owner or CEO. And when you start talking about employee embezzlement, the impact can be catastrophic to some businesses, especially small businesses, for several reasons: Loss of assets – an employee stealing from a company can take anything from supplies and materials to money away from the company’s resources. Loss of credibility – if a large theft or employee embezzlement is uncovered and reported to the public, the perception of the company may be damaged. The “if they can’t manage their own house, how can I think they can manage mine” theory can result in loss of clients and potential clients – for a long time. Drain on future finances – Seeing a business embezzlement [...]

An Investigation Provides Answers When You Think You Have an Employee Stealing Customers

In order to protect their client list and trade secrets, many businesses formalize confidentiality and non-compete agreements with employees. Client data protection is also an element of the privacy organization strive to maintain. But sometimes employees or contractors see those agreements only as valuable as the sheet of paper they are written on and ignore the legally binding agreement. And it’s not only the people you hire, but family who work in the business, too. has had numerous investigations that revealed family members were involved in clandestine operations – sometimes. For instance, a small family business owner contacted about suspicions he had at work. He thought he had an employee stealing customers – and that employee was his nephew. Not only was he concerned about [...]

Confirm Employee Embezzlement with a Certified Financial Examiner

When an employer is faced with employee embezzlement, you might think that they just fire the person, or call the police and the insurance company. At the minimum, they call the insurance company if they have an employee fidelity policy. What you might not realize is that the insurance company might require proof that funds were actually stolen by the employee. Most employers call their attorneys and smart attorneys call in a firm like Theft in the workplace can be complicated and involve more than a single employee. Theft by employees could also implicate suppliers and clients. A recent case followed a common scenario. The situation where an employee forged checks, cashed the checks and doctored the books and records. called in the Certificated Forensic [...]