Employee Theft and Workplace Investigations

Employee theft and workplace fraud aren’t limited to stealing physical property from an employer or “cooking the books.” There are different scenarios that are, unfortunately, fairly common examples of fraud in the workplace:

• An employee initiates purchase orders for goods or services that are then diverted for personal use. Sometimes employees set up fake vendor accounts and create fraudulent invoices that result in payments made to the employee.
• Procurement fraud occurs when an employee conspires with a vendor or sales rep to inflate sales in an effort to earn higher bonuses or commissions.
• If an employee exploits company assets or steals corporate data and uses it for personal gain – or provides it to a third party for their benefit – that’s corporate theft.
• Corporate credit cards used by employees for personal purchases.
• Payroll fraud occurs when fake, deceased or terminated employees are still on the payroll system and someone is collecting and cashing the checks. False or excessive overtime payments is another typical form of payroll fraud.

If you suspect that one or more of your employees are engaged in such activities the first step is call Baldwin Legal Investigations and have us perform a forensic accounting investigation. Don’t attempt to conduct an investigation yourself; there are established guidelines and procedures that must be followed if your company is to undertake an employee theft investigation. Our private investigators, fraud examiners and other experts will help you document facts and collect evidence in a way that is both effective and legal.

Theft of a company’s physical property can be easy to quantify; data breaches and/or theft of intellectual property can be more difficult to put a value on.  BLI provides computer forensic investigation services and litigation support and can help quantify the damage your business may have suffered as a result of any criminal activity in the workplace.

Contact us if you suspect workplace theft or fraud and need help.