It has been all too common about how employees have been caught stealing from the company that they work for. There may be a variety of reasons for doing so. It could be the employee feels the company may owe them something, there could be personal financial issues that the individual is dealing with, or maybe because they feel they are in a position to perform such an act and not get caught. Not all embezzlement cases involve an employee stealing money from a firm. There are some cases that involve employees having access to customers’ accounts in order to misappropriate funds to those accounts for a personal gain. In February 2014, an employee at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino was arrested for allegedly placing unauthorized credits on patrons’ player cards. Jane (whose name has been changed) had worked for the casino for two years. She became employed initially as a Line Cook and then later on, she was hired to work in the Capital Club department in August 2013. This department is responsible for issuing player cards to patrons. These cards serve as a means for customers to earn and redeem points. The ways for a customer to earn points is through playing the slot machines or having points physically placed on their card by a Capital Club representative. The points serve as cash, so for example, 1 point equals $1. The more points you earn, the more money you have to play with.
During her employment with the department, Jane befriended two other patrons. They would come see her on a regular basis. This was not seen as an issue because each employee had their own customers that they have built a relationship with. There would be instances where Jane would load “credits” on the patrons’ cards as courtesy offerings, which was allowed by the department. However, there were some occasions where the patrons’ cards were reloaded numerous times on certain days, mainly the days that Jane was working. Each time the patrons’ cards received this “free money”, the patrons would give her money and gifts in return. As months went by, the patrons would return to the department and they would bring along friends and family members so that they may receive free money as well. As time would go on, the Surveillance department at the casino started to notice a pattern. They kept a close eye on the group as they made their visits to the casino and watched closely at their interaction with Jane. The group would be seen on camera passing unknown objects to Jane as the transactions were taking place. They investigated the situation, along with the Division of Gaming Enforcement, and found out the employee had place unauthorized credits totaling over $30,000 on the suspects’ cards. All subjects involved were taken into custody and charged with theft. Of course, Jane was terminated from the company. Employee theft has become an issue because here is an employee that has used her position to perform illegal acts for a personal benefit. This is a main reason as to why people commit these “white collar crimes”. Employees, such as Jane, tend to only think of themselves in situations like this and they don’t realize the negative effect this brings to an organization. “Conventional wisdom suggests that economic factors, such as instability, high rates of unemployment, low consumer confidence, and other poor economic indicators may increase the frequency of many white collar frauds, including employee theft” (Marquet, 2011). Employees may feel they are better able to conceal their activity if they see a business is prospering. It may be difficult for a business to continue to grow if they have to invest time and money investigating employee fraud. Also, company executives have to invest time in trying to rebuild the company because the incident may leave a bad mark on the organization and it may keep consumers from wanting to do business with them. How do businesses go about minimizing the risk of embezzlement occurring? For one, they must establish rules and policies. Be firm with the employees and let them know that acts such as this will not be tolerated. All companies should expect the highest level of honesty from their employees. It is difficult to run a business if you can’t trust employees with consumers’ information and other sensitive data. Once a company has realized that embezzlement has occurred, they need to perform a thorough investigation. One way to get the message across is to set an example. Show other employees that this issue is taken seriously by your company. Companies need to be able to discourage potential future embezzlers. According to Marquet (2011), “As soon as enough evidence is gathered, the suspected employee should be immediately suspended or terminated. Such a decision should be made within hours or a few days at most”. I completely agree with the writer. Many companies can produce a book of policies and procedures that will tell employees how certain situations are handled. However, that means nothing if the company does not follow through. I do know that my current employer does take embezzlement very seriously, as should every company. I work at Dover Downs and I know this is not the first incident of employee theft this company had to deal with. Another way I feel a company can minimize its risk of embezzling is monitor the relationships that employees may have with other workers, and especially with upper management. Not saying a company should become “big brother”, but nowadays employers are able to have access to employees and future employees’ social media pages. Once that line has been crossed from being co-workers to being friends, it becomes difficult to do an investigation and find out if an illegal action has taken place. If authorities have to interview the co-workers, they may not get the information they are looking for. Friends are more likely to protect friends, in any given situation. They won’t side with the organization because they are more worried about their friendship. What would have been the outcome in the Dover Downs scenario if a co-worker of Jane, who also happened to be a friend, had realized what was going on? I feel that the friend probably would not have come forward to alert management. One reason being they would not want to be seen as a whistleblower. Another reason is they would have developed the “it’s not hurting me” type of attitude. They feel that if it does not affect them, why should they worry about it. In conclusion, not all employees are honest. If employee morale and productivity has declined, no one is thinking about the company and what is best for the company. According to Satchell (2002), “White-collar crime is as American as apple pie”. It does exist and happens more than we know. There are people that go through life thinking someone owes them something, just because. They are willing to “collect” by any means necessary. It is up to companies to always make sure they are taking the proper steps to help lessen the risk of employee theft. It all comes down to having an open line of communication. Make sure that employees know they are representing the company. Let them know what you expect from them. An employer must be able to trust its employees. A business can’t continue to operate if they don’t have honest people working for them.

References Anderson, C. (2014, February 12). Four arrested after alleged Dover Downs scheme. Delaware Newszap. Retrieved from http://delaware.newszap.com

Marquet, C. (2011). Embezzlement epidemic. University Business, 17(7), 89-94. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Satchell, M. (2002). Scandal as usual. U.S. News & World Report, 133(25), 49. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.