Fraud does not take long to accumulate.
If proper measures are in place, cash thefts are not as common. In recent events, a Home Depot employee in California was arrested after an alleged million-dollar embezzlement scheme. In the span of a year, the employee allegedly embezzled monies through unauthorized taking of cash.
Cash may be hard to keep track of, which makes it an easier target for theft. In this case, Home Depot learned the accused employee took more than $1.2 million in cash. The employee allegedly misappropriated monies by taking cash from registers, with some months totaling $25,000 to $174,000. On the day of the arrest, the alleged employee was said to have more than $8,000.00 in their possession. The employee was able to conceal her fraud by manipulating books and disguising how much money was being deposited.
This highlights the dangers many businesses face if proper precautions and separation of duties are not put in place. First, the employee reconciling accounts paid should not check the accuracy of income and deposits without a secondary stage of confirmation. Without the proper measures in place, cash can remain under the radar until significant issues arise. Allowing for consistent reviews can mitigate the risk of a business being victim to fraud.
Today, U. (2023, October 25). Home Depot employee accused of embezzling $1.2 million from Company, police say. USA TODAY https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/10/24/home-depot-employee-embezzlement/71299333007/
Photo by Aibek Skakov
