Interview with a Convicted Felon: Employee Theft
Video Transcript
Robert A. Bonavito discusses employee theft and signs to watch out for, and talks about his interview with a convicted felon of Employee Theft, discussing the aftermath of the conviction, the interviewee’s thought processes during the time of the crime, and how he got away with it. ❓ Dan, a convicted felon was in his late 40s who worked as a bookkeeper/controller full-time for a movie theater company, and part-time for another movie theater operator. Dan was charged with Grand Larceny in the First Degree and was convicted by a jury after our testimony. ➡️ Opportunity: Most small business owners are so busy that they are extremely happy to find a competent employee to handle the bookkeeping and accounting and finance needs without much intervention by the owners. That was the situation that Dan found himself in. As he took on more responsibilities at both of his jobs he realized that he had complete control of the accounting and finance activities at the company. There was little or no segregation of duties, spot checking his work, etc. ➡️ Rationalization: He said he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He enjoyed gambling, playing poker and blackjack. Dan’s gambling addiction and his bipolar disordered worsened and one day he decided to write a checks to himself from both his part-time job and full-time job. No one seemed to notice or care. Eventually he wised up and set up two companies utilizing business names similar to some of the company’s vendors. ➡️ Pressure: As his losses mounted, he needed to steal more and more to pay his debts and hide it from his family. He went on stealing money for close to 10 years and spending all the money on his gambling habit. ➡️ How was he caught?: After 10 years he left the company to pursue other jobs, never thinking anything would ever come of the millions of dollars he stole from the businesses. If Dan was still working at the company at the time of the audit, he could have easily covered his tracks. However, a tax audit was performed by the state after he left the company, and during the audit they picked up checks that he wrote out to himself. 📌 Aftermath: An investigation resulted in charges being filed against him. He pleaded guilty and spent five and a half years in a minimum-security prison.