Embezzlement by Temporary Workers —Instinctive Optimism
The story is so common; an apparently “trustworthy” temp agency worker gains the trust of the agency’s client and takes advantage. Three examples of embezzlement by temporary workers:
- After this temp employee gained the client’s trust, she was hired as full-time bookkeeper. Over a three-year period, she embezzled more than $755,000 from her employer. In 2009, she pled guilty to the charges and sentenced to six years in federal prison.
- It only took this twice-convicted embezzler 14 weeks as a temporary worker to gain the client’s trust and be hired full-time. During a two-year period, she embezzled over $120,000 from her employer.
- An executive search firm was sued for not completing a background check on an employee who misrepresented himself and later embezzled over $500,000 from the company.
As the above cases reflect, there is always the threat of embezzlement by temporary workers. Crimes such as embezzlement by temporary workers most often happens when breakdowns occur in background checks and outright failure to segregate critical financial duties. Reduce risk to embezzlement by temporary workers:
1) Recognize the Threat: Embezzlement by temporary workers can be a legitimate threat. An individual who commits such crimes generally works their way into a position of trust, sees the opportunity, is least suspected, and has minimal oversight.
2) Job Applicants: Two of the above cases clearly identify the reasons background checks are necessary. Temp workers later transferred to employee status frequently fly under the radar of pre-employment checks. Don’t let this happen to you. Follow your own hiring procedures.
3) Multiple Tasking: Segregate duties and reduce your risk to embezzlement by temporary workers and others by ensuring that no employee has the ability to affect every stage of a critical work process.
4) Oversight: Proper monitoring helps to ensure that adequate internal controls are in place and enforced.
The above steps will help deter these crimes. If you are serious about preventing embezzlement by temporary workers order Business Fraud: From Trust to Betrayal now!