Conducting transactions through physical forms of payment such as cash and checks requires diligent oversight and ensuring transactions are tracked so cash doesn’t fall through the cracks.
There have been many cases of employees who handle company bank deposits embezzling funds by taking the monies or skimming a portion of the monies in order to conceal the scheme across a longer time period.
This occurred in the Dupo Community Unit School District in East St. Louis.
Ms. Linda J. Johnson worked in an administrative support role in the superintendent’s office between 2020 and 2022. Ms. Johnson was responsible for depositing cash and checks into the district’s bank account meant for student extracurricular activities and clubs. Ms. Johnson would allegedly prepare bank deposit slips reflecting correct deposit amounts for cash and checks, then prepare a second slip only accounting for any checks, pocketing the cash. The total loss suffered by the school district was $135,566.80.
Having the same person process incoming deposits and deposit funds to the school district’s bank account allowed for the scheme to succeed due to lack of both oversight and separation of powers to receive funds and pay out funds.
Having different individuals complete each stage of the process from accepting deposits, putting the funds into the district bank accounts, and confirming the claimed deposits against the district’s accounts can prevent any one person from having success with a similar scheme in the future.
Former Employee Pleads Guilty to Embezzling More Than $135,000 from. (2024, October 29). https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdil/pr/former-employee-pleads-guilty-embezzling-more-135000-dupo-school-district
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