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Friday, March 29, 2024
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The Business of Thievery

Dear Source:
Recently, while researching a potential segment for my former talk show, i came across some information that becomes pertinent today.There will be more than 400 billion dollars lost in employee theft in this year alone. A former FBI white collar crime specialist founded a company, Corporate Resolution, a now international firm that does background checks for major companies in high stakes business, states that smaller companies and government entities can be particularly vulnerable. He told a tale of a financial manager that hired an acquaintence as the sole contractor for his regional company and, in collusion with him, signed off on more than 3 million dollars in fraudulent invoices.The recommendation of the president of Corporate Resolution is to screen all potential employees beginning with the applications and have a policy of one lie and out! One should also be wary of not being able to verify claims or contact references.There are companies like Automated Data Processing, a payroll company, that offers basic screenings for 100 to 400 dollars. Check their website. The firms Hire And Fire as well as National Application Screening were also mentioned. The report went on to say that even the lowliest employee can cause severe financial drain. A cashier that gave away goods and services to a contractor in exchange for kickbacks cost one company more than 250,000 dollars. How does an account clerk afford that Lexus??Some tips included employees having to sign an agreement for possible background and drug tests at any time during their employment. Making sure it is known that everything on the companies computer is company property and subject to monitoring and/or search.Put someone in charge of security.Buy Fidelity insurance in the amount of 5% of revenues to cover theft by employee and vendors.And ** Never let the Chief Financial Officer write checks or open mail**.These are some of the trends that I continue to keep abreast of.Where are the forward thinkers of the Virgin Islands Nation??
Steve Nisky
St. Croix

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