Being witness to embezzlement by boss - what do you do?

pezzy84

pezzy84

Joined
Aug 15, 2020
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Location
Atlanta, GA
Theoretically speaking.

Worker bee has a job that is a well paying job they enjoy as it actually has work/life balance, manager is a bull in a china shop bully that gets their way by scaring everyone around them to acquiesce. Manager has a corporate credit card of which they are the only party privvy to the statements and they book the entry for the monthly payment but said booking has zero backup and does not even include the statement for backup. Some statements are in worker bee possession and do show illegitimate purchases but embezzler got smart and stopped making them available.

Is said worker bee at risk of legal trouble if they knew about (but were not party to) the embezzlement? Should said worker bee talk to an attorney ASAP?
 
pezzy84 said:
Theoretically speaking.

Worker bee has a job that is a well paying job they enjoy as it actually has work/life balance, manager is a bull in a china shop bully that gets their way by scaring everyone around them to acquiesce. Manager has a corporate credit card of which they are the only party privvy to the statements and they book the entry for the monthly payment but said booking has zero backup and does not even include the statement for backup. Some statements are in worker bee possession and do show illegitimate purchases but embezzler got smart and stopped making them available.

Is said worker bee at risk of legal trouble if they knew about (but were not party to) the embezzlement? Should said worker bee talk to an attorney ASAP?
Click to expand...

Public company or private?
 
Without documentation to show embezzlement it's is just he said she said. Never worked for a company that didn't require I turn in receipts for my claims.
Disgruntled workers have been know to make accusations just to cause someone trouble. So, upper management/accounting/HR may not have much recourse without documented evidence other than to start requiring the receipts be filed with accounting..
End result; no more fraud.
 
2005jettatdi said:
Your choices are turn him in or leave. However, your accusations are not very convincing.
Click to expand...
The IRS allows you to anonymously turn in anyone without evidence for tax fraud
Any small proof of embezzlement to the IRS is all they need to cause massive trouble for the individual since embezzlement is always equated to not being reported.

The best solution if you feel partially responsible is to turn him into the IRS and quit. If said corporation forces you into an exit interview with someone other than said boss state I am quitting because of fraud whos fraud you need not state.

Burn the bridges, YMMV financial and employment consequences are not guaranteed but possible
 
pezzy84 said:
Theoretically speaking.

Worker bee has a job that is a well paying job they enjoy as it actually has work/life balance, manager is a bull in a china shop bully that gets their way by scaring everyone around them to acquiesce. Manager has a corporate credit card of which they are the only party privvy to the statements and they book the entry for the monthly payment but said booking has zero backup and does not even include the statement for backup. Some statements are in worker bee possession and do show illegitimate purchases but embezzler got smart and stopped making them available.

Is said worker bee at risk of legal trouble if they knew about (but were not party to) the embezzlement? Should said worker bee talk to an attorney ASAP?
Click to expand...
The only thing that throws me off is your first line "Worker bee has a job that is a well paying job they enjoy as it actually has work/life balance,"

and that is because the second lines says the manager is a bully and scares the workers. I dont know, but I guess I am reading this wrong, because it doesnt sound like a job someone is enjoying if that is the case.
I think based on what you post, there can be such a huge area in-between of what is and how much money is being embezzled. How would the worker know its embezzlement? and if so, are we talking dinners and drinks or are we talking boats and automobiles as well as, is it something the worker has direct knowledge of? or are they expenses that can be explained or "gray areas"
I dont know but if that concerned, I would talk to a lawyer.
 
I can assure you that corporate does indeed get a statement every month for each and every company credit card issued to an employee. I had two cards. An American Express for travel related expenses and a VISA purchasing card for use in purchasing supplies used in the operation of the project/laboratory I was assigned to. Monthly reconciliation was mandated, and all receipts, associated paperwork, billing statements, etc. was subject to unannounced inspection and or auditing at any time by either the company or the client.

Now if the boss is the owner of the company, then he has only himself to report too. Otherwise, there will be someone who will be over the boss, unless that individual is not doing their job either.
 
First off, are you SURE that it is embezzlement though? Because a lot of the time management can approve for things that went over budget, especially in team-building and social events.

Usually big enough companies have training on what is allowed and how to report, they also says when you are not sure send them to review in a specific department or you will be fired if you know. So if the guideline is clear then you have to follow it otherwise you will be out of a job. If it is not sure, like it is a private company and the owner knows, allow, etc, then you should ask your management / skip level in written form (email) about this and whether they approve this. You do not want to be in trouble and you want to show that you have at least report to someone (if someone you report it to is also corrupted then there is nothing you can do). Make sure you keep a copy of that written authorization at home so in case there's a court case you have prove that you report to someone.

Corp cards will send statement to the company's accountants, if you are the person auditing these and find irregular you need to report to your higher up. Are you the accountant or are you the direct report of the corrupted boss with the corp card?
 
My company has a hotline to call for situations like this. I'd talk to HR or the legal department at your company if you're worried about it. What do you expect an outside attorney to tell you?

How do you know the manager isn't paying the company back for these purchases?

Years ago my corporate American Express card was only corporate in name. I had to pay the bill myself.

Now, I have a real corporate card that my company pays every month. Every transaction needs to be accounted for in our expense system. We use Concur which is a horrible system. I've made personal purchases using the corporate card by accident and I need to expense them as personal and pay the company or have the amount deducted from reimbursements.
 
If the company doesn't have any CC oversight on the manager, then they don't care about his/her expenses. Maybe just a perk or maybe the whole outfit is crooked.
 
totegoat said:
If the company doesn't have any CC oversight on the manager, then they don't care about his/her expenses. Maybe just a perk or maybe the whole outfit is crooked.
Click to expand...

Or it’s a chain that has a bunch of little Hitlers strewn across the nation and only one absentee overlord that is also mostly incompetent.

Good companies have proper ways of addressing this, small and poorly run ones sometimes have employees steal the wiring out of a rental as the place descends into bankruptcy.

I have encountered the full spectrum and every situation is different, thankfully the place I work does try hard to do the right thing but I can’t guarantee every establishment is run correctly or honorably

In this state over the years Dozens of individual “retail” chain locations have gone under due to the single 16hr a day location manager embezzling
My town hasn’t had a KFC in a decade because 2 managers in a row embezzled and the chain got cold feet about taking a chance.

This being on a credit card sounds suspicious as either a good ol boy scenario or brazen stupidity because nobody has accountability up the chain.
What exactly is he embezzling? Is he buying goods from his other company?
Is he paying his daughters tuition?
Is he buying dildos?
Is his brother charging for $500 light bulbs?
Context matters, because food and drinks in the private sector sometimes doesn’t matter, he may get an allowance use it or loose it.
 
Last edited:
Go Ninja covert. Use a pay phone to call the president, CEO, or some really high upper management. Tell them what you think is going on and you might have some documentation to back up the veracity of your claims. Tell them the worker bee likes their job and they're looking out for the best interest of the company. If I were a CEO, I'd appreciate that.
 
rob1715 said:
Go Ninja covert. Use a pay phone to call the president, CEO, or some really high upper management. Tell them what you think is going on and you might have some documentation to back up the veracity of your claims. Tell them the worker bee likes their job and they're looking out for the best interest of the company. If I were a CEO, I'd appreciate that.
Click to expand...
Tell them you have a sealed piece of information from a confidential informant and pass it along to the Sergeant at SIU. Put it in to flush it out and see what comes out the other side. - Leo DiCap, The Departed.
 
UncleDave said:
Public company or private?
Click to expand...
Rmay635703 said:
The IRS allows you to anonymously turn in anyone without evidence for tax fraud
Any small proof of embezzlement to the IRS is all they need to cause massive trouble for the individual since embezzlement is always equated to not being reported.

The best solution if you feel partially responsible is to turn him into the IRS and quit. If said corporation forces you into an exit interview with someone other than said boss state I am quitting because of fraud whos fraud you need not state.

Burn the bridges, YMMV financial and employment consequences are not guaranteed but possible
Click to expand...
First question first.

But dman, seems pretty petty to go full IRS nuke. Wow. Just seems.....well I don't have enough to comment. Just don't.
 
Oh wow lots of responses was not expecting - hoofta. Let me clear up some question marks.

- Small company with two in accounting department. The worker bee and the one embezzling are about it.

- No whistleblower hotlines.
 
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