Your most trusted employee… Hmmmm think again!
Reported in the media this week was the story of a female who stole $146k from her employer. The story was really about how the staffer was regarded by the owner as the company’s most valuable employer, when caught she tried to blame her offending on depression, even though she spent the ill-gotten gains on cruises and hot rod vehicles.
Article – Woman steals $146k from boss and blames depression
At Paragon we often catch “the most valuable employee’. The dishonesty has nothing to do with being depressed but rather they had other vices to feed. Just a few examples we have seen include:
- Being passed over for a company car – stealing over $1m
- Boyfriend on drugs – stealing over $100k
- Son losing his job – Stealing $20k
- Wanting to pay off mortgage quicker – stealing $70k
- Helping out family with debts – stealing over $400k
- Jealous of the bosses profits while being their best friend – stealing over $100k
The common denominator in all these cases was the total trust placed on these employees by the company owners and the lack of audits. As mentioned in the article above, even when it might be plainly obvious to everyone else, often the owner does not want to face what might need to be done.
The reality is that if the company makes a loss the bank will come after the company owners, and other staff members could lose their jobs due to one bad apple. Stolen money comes right off the bottom line and simple maths will determine how much income it takes to earn just to break even never mind making a profit.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom, quite often we are able to obtain repayment, even if it means getting other family to assist, and we have assisted in taking a mortgage over the offender’s property.
Paragon can help. In one of the cases above, a business owner told me over a beer about a feeling he had. The next day I attended his office and by close of business had opened a can of worms leaving my mate crying in his office but having $100k recovered. The blatant dishonesty by his most valued employee of 7 years had to be seen to be believed.
Paragon works for business owners, and we will do our utmost to save and recapture the company’s hard earned income, to ensure job security for the other staff and to keep the morale high.