Expert Investigations

Table of Contents

You own a business, small or large. You are a Director of a medium to large sized business. You may think all employees are honest or there is nothing worth stealing from your business.

You are very wrong. Every business has items of value. Not always the obvious things like cash, product, either components or finished items. You have databases and information that is equally as valuable.
The dishonest employee may not always be committing a criminal offence and may be breaching their contract in stealing data to take to a competitor or setting up on their own. They may be skiving from work with alleged stress or the typical bad back.

Understanding there is a risk to your business puts you in the perfect position to reduce that opportunity.

What Is The Risk To Your Business?

Every business is a risk. Manufacturing, professional services, healthcare, insurance, support services, finance. Until you asses the risk of each potential facet of the business it is difficult to equate your risk. I conduct the same risk process in my business.

The SME sector is the most vulnerable to employee dishonesty with less than 1 in 5 businesses conducting a fraud risk assessment.

You think you have measures in place to stop employee dishonesty then you are wrong. You will usually just be considering the criminal element of dishonesty, not the civil or contractual one.

Is Employee Theft And Fraud That Common?

It is more common thank you think. Most goes unreported and most is dealt with internally with the employee being dismissed and removing the problem from the business. There are many reasons why it is unreported which I will cover in later articles.

And not only is employee theft and fraud much more common than you think, but the impact on businesses is also greater than you might have expected too.

Here are some cases of theft and fraud to show that impact. In the case of the company secretary, Wendy Dillingham, Expert Investigations gathered the evidence of her fraud:

A company secretary who siphoned off more than £260,000 from her employer has been jailed for five years for fraud.

Read More

Anti-fraud Santander bank worker has been jailed for selling customers’ details in a £90,000 scam.

Read More

A company secretary who siphoned off A County Tyrone woman who stole £1.9m from her employers to fund her “luxury lifestyle” has been given a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Read More

A Crown Office employee who took money and drugs worth almost £240,000 from her work in Aberdeen has been jailed for three years and nine months.

Read More

Do You Suspect That Your Business Is At Risk From Dishonest Employees?

Get in touch with Expert Investigations today:

Contact Us

Reducing The Risk From Dishonest Employees

Firstly accept that you have the potential for employee dishonesty. And then examine all the ways that potential might manifest. Work from the broad and general to the specific. If you image that something could not happen then it has the potential to do so. You have created your own blind spots that dishonest employees can and will take advantage of. Target hardening is a tactic that you should be using in your business wherever you can, as it is necessary to disrupting dishonest employees. You can read more information on this in a previous article.

You need to consider all of the potential types of dishonesty including:

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I decide whether an investigation is necessary?

Naturally there can be concerns when considering a surveillance and observations investigation. Whatever the issue is, there are several key factors to consider when deciding whether to investigate, including ensuring you are acting lawfully, and that you have the correct service provider. We at Expert Investigations have put together the ‘J Plan’ to help you decide, which you can view in full here.

Are these kind of cover investigations legal?

Within the workplace there is often the need to utilise the resources of covert investigations, but clients are often unaware of the legal position of doing so. Since we have been operating, our integrity has never been questioned regarding legalities or procedure. You can read more here.

What are your recommendations for dealing with employee dishonesty?

David Kearns, Managing Director of Expert Investigations Group and an expert on employee dishonesty, advises a three tiered approach:

  1. Educate Board and senior management
  2. Carry out a risk assessment
  3. If necessary, conduct training

You can read more about the process here.

Now you know the potential risk to your business from dishonest employees, it’s time to act. Book a consultation today: