A bookkeeper is in a position of trust.
They have the responsibility of reconciling payments and making sure the financials of a business match up to expense records. However, when a bookkeeper abuses this power it can be dangerous, depending on the amount of control over bank accounts one individual has. This was the case of Marc Weiss who pled guilty to wire fraud and embezzlement after admitting to embezzling $1.6 million between two different companies.
While employed as a bookkeeper, Weiss used his position to access company financial accounts and make more than 120 fraudulent transfers totaling $1.6 million from bank accounts under his control. To disguise the fraud, fake entries were added to company books as legitimate expenses for things such as advertising and software development. Eventually it was discovered these transactions were created by Mr. Weiss for personal gain.
After his guilty plea, Mr. Weiss admitted the embezzled funds were used to pay for high-end vehicles, a luxury apartment, travel, vacations, and personal expenses. The charge of wire fraud against Mr. Weiss carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
A common tactic in embezzlement is disguising false payments as payments to legitimate vendors. Without having a second check for accounts this may allow fraud to thrive due to payments not appearing as blatantly suspicious. From 2016 to 2022, Mr. Weiss was able to perpetrate this scheme. Tighter controls could have potentially uncovered this sooner and led to a much smaller loss to the employer.
Bookkeeper pleads guilty to wire fraud for $1.6 million embezzlement scheme. (2023, October 18). https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/pr/bookkeeper-pleads-guilty-wire-fraud-16-million-embezzlement-scheme
Photo by Denys Novikov
