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Post-Embezzlement Asset Recovery Procedure

By G. Michael Bellinger
November 25, 2008

Workplace embezzlement is an increasingly common occurrence: According to the most recent U.S. Department of Justice Statistics, embezzlement increased by 39% between 1990 and 2000. In the current economic environment, this trend will likely accelerate. But despite its frequency, embezzlement, when uncovered, still engenders feelings of rage, betrayal and embarrassment. Before the emotional reaction subsides, companies generally take immediate, reflexively punitive steps against the employee-suspect: on-the-spot termination, hasty escort from the premises, restricted access to the company's electronic network, and prompt notification of local law enforcement. While these steps may assuage the emotional wounds inflicted by the theft, a different approach may better serve a company's long-term financial interests. If a company's primary objective is asset recovery, that company should not rush to carry out the procedures enumerated above in response to a presumed embezzlement.

This admonition may seem counter-intuitive. Why not immediately call law enforcement when an employee has looted a corporate bank account? Doesn't one usually call the police if a home is burglarized or a car stolen? And why not immediately terminate a disloyal employee?

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