Thread: Embezzlement

Originally Posted by Gordon B. Clarke

Ha! What you call embezzlers we call "politicians"

Our national election is tomorow (Thursday) and if the politicians keep their promises then everyone in Denmark will be very busy picking gold up off the streets on Friday.
I'm not going to buy a shovel

An update. The opposition won the election and is now the government. Surprise, surprise that so far not one single election promise has been kept and won't be. If there was another election tomorrow the present government would be smaller than it was when in opposition.

We went from mildly right wing to left wing.

There's no gold on the streets. Smells more like BS.

First, if the signatures didnt match yours then the bank is partially at fault.
Secondly, buy a rocket launcher.

Sorry you are having such troubles, good luck to you man,

"An update. The opposition won the election and is now the government. Surprise, surprise that so far not one single election promise has been kept and won't be. If there was another election tomorrow the present government would be smaller than it was when in opposition.

We went from mildly right wing to left wing.

There's no gold on the streets. Smells more like BS. "

"Meet the new Boss......Same as the old Boss......"

P. Townsend ........1971

There's no gold on the streets. Smells more like BS. "

There's nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

(same song thruthefence is quoting....)

Originally Posted by smallshop

There's no gold on the streets. Smells more like BS. "

There's nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

(same song thruthefence is quoting....)

Tip of the hat to ya'

If it makes ya feel any better, I worked for an accountant for about a year and a half. The accounting firm actually had it happen to them, and they were the victims!

One of the partners of the firm was going through some health problems, and if you've ever worked in a accounting firm around tax time, you know how busy it can get...now you have a firm that's down one accountant, and everybody is working extra to pick up the slack. Priorities are the clients, and they stopped paying attention to their OWN tax returns.

They have both a general accounting firm as well as a payroll firm. The general firm handles the daily business of quite a few companies, tax returns, profit loss, etc. The payroll firm is strictly payroll, companies call them with the hours for their employees, and they do all of the calculations for taxes, print the payroll checks, and file the quarterly returns and such.

The employee was in charge of the payroll side of the business. All of the paychecks matched what she was supposed to make because the company president signed all of the checks. The checks were all correct, but the actual quarterly return was modified, and paid electronically. All he got was a statement saying they owed the IRS 50k and that it was paid.

What she had been doing is filing the return with excessive tax overpayments to herself. Basically, her W2 and all other federal returns would say she made 55k but her federal contributions were 20k...she had only recieved checks for the 35k, which never sparked any interest because that's what the checks that were signed said.

Unfortunately, the partner with health problems passed away. When the other partners bought out his wife, they had to completely review their books for the past five years. This is when the irregularities in the returns were noticed.

Once they found this, they also did intensive audits of all of their payroll clients. Thankfully she had not stolen from them, but that would have probably actually gotten her caught earlier, as the only communication she had with them was a few minutes a week. She didn't know who really paid attention to their finances closely.

There's a ton of ways to steal from companies on paper, and most of the people are never caught unless they get greedy.

this is why you should covertly find locations of all the old open wells in your area that can be back filled for safety reasons before someone could fall in

Originally Posted by 3t3d

We met with the DA today.

A hearing is scheduled for next month.

The investigation took about three months, with other case loads, and all the details. Several hundred pages of evidence.

Once we got rid of her.... Suddenly I can hire two operators...
Too much work to keep up with, things are VERY different.
Well, granted today the air compressor threw a rod through the block....
But that is (yet) another story.

What is shocking is how many people had it happen to them, to someone they know, etc....
One business even had it happen to them more than once.

One lady told me her daughter in law was stealing form a retired judge.

Her son was in debt for the rest of his life. Re mortgaged to max.
She was kept telling him she "Got a Bonus" at work...


I'll leak more details after the fact.

Good Luck with this. I hope you can recover some of what was stolen or at least have the satisfaction of seeing the person prosecuted.

3T3D:

I'm sorry to hear of your problems, but I've been in the same boat too.

I hate to be the one to say this, but the others are right, you will never see that money again, and even jail time is not always going to happen. Judges and prosecutors look at this stuff as "pain in the ass" cases and RARELY even bring them to trial. It doesn't generate enough press and publicity. Even small "possession" and DUI cases make the papers, but not stealing money from an employer.

My dad was robbed literally of MILLIONS. By a worthless brother and niece. Nothing happened. The County wouldn't even bat an eye. BUT, some clown in a pickup a few tenths over the limit? Front page news.

Originally Posted by DouglasJRizzo

My dad was robbed literally of MILLIONS. By a worthless brother and niece. Nothing happened. The County wouldn't even bat an eye.

There's got to be much more in that story than you've written. Did your dad report the whole thing as robbery? Surely for millions somebody must have done something?

My gut feeling is that your dad wouldn't prosecute and that pisses you off. I hope I'm wrong because the alternative is stupidity and/or corruption at several levels.

Gordon,
Don't be quite so quick to assume.
I am beginning to understand that DJR. is right...
After talking to a few people, it seems that recovery, and punishment is unlikely.

But..... The jails are brim full for a lot of Other crimes...

One of my neighbors lost under 2 million... To his aunt.
DJR is spot on.

One local business had it happen three times......

The common perception is that you get a FREE PASS if you do do it...
And that perception is constantly reinforced.

Originally Posted by 3t3d

...
And that perception is constantly reinforced.

Its a steep and slippery slope. If the authorities start prosecuting fraud there is no telling where it could lead.

. I am sorry for your loss.

3t3d,
Also sorry that money was stolen. Maybe the only redeeming factor is that it wasn't a close friend or relative.

She is obviously a stupid woman, she doesn't realize she could do the same thing much easier in politics .

Dave

Originally Posted by <jbc>

Its a steep and slippery slope. If the authorities start prosecuting fraud there is no telling where it could lead.

. I am sorry for your loss.

They'd have to start investigating themselves for all the fraud they commit... so far that hasn't worked too well.

Gordon:

There was a lot to it that hasn't been said. But the end is the same. If it's done successfully, there isn't anything that anyone can do.

Dad was in his late 80s, and slipping. They just "yessed" him away and went about their deeds.

3t3d, thanks. This is one of those times where I wished I was wrong. But my experience tells me otherwise.

My dad's company grossed $15mil a year. Last statement I looked at, showed $300 in the bank.

FACT - get an outside accountant to audit your business regularly. Someone who is not related to the business, partners, regular accountant or bookkeeper. A total stranger. Have him/her prepare a certified report. This is one time to completely avoid the "buddy system."

Originally Posted by DouglasJRizzo

FACT - get an outside accountant to audit your business regularly. Someone who is not related to the business, partners, regular accountant or bookkeeper. A total stranger. Have him/her prepare a certified report. This is one time to completely avoid the "buddy system."

I agree with that 100%.

KC Screw Products sues office manager, alleges $2.7 million taken - KansasCity.com





Posted on Wed, Feb. 15, 2012 11:08 PM

Read more here: KC Screw Products sues office manager, alleges $2.7 million taken - KansasCity.com

KC Screw Products sues office manager, alleges $2.7 million taken

KC Screw Products sues bookkeeper over almost $2.7 million, and two banks for not seeing trouble signs.

By MARK DAVIS

The Kansas City Star

Read more here: KC Screw Products sues office manager, alleges $2.7 million taken - KansasCity.com

A Kansas City company has sued a former longtime office manager who was “darn near a member of the family,” alleging she embezzled nearly $2.7 million while on the job.The company, Kansas City Screw Products Inc., also sued two banks, saying they should have caught the alleged forgery and check kiting that made the embezzlement possible.
The company laid out its case against Liberty resident Laura DeJong in a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court.
The suit said the first word of trouble came from an anonymous call last November. Within three weeks, according to the suit, DeJong was interviewed by FBI special agents on the company’s premises and was terminated.
DeJong could not be reached for comment. No criminal charges have been filed against her.
The suit also names her husband, Craig DeJong, as knowing she was spending the money for their mutual benefit. He also could not be reached.
According to the suit, after the tipster’s call, the company called one of its bankers. That call brought reassurances that the company’s account “contained no suspicious activity and that the call was likely a prank,” the 11-page lawsuit said.
The suit said Kansas City Screw Products had been defrauded, first through a string of forged checks and then by a more elaborate effort of check kiting, or passing company checks between the two banks to inflate the account balances and the employee’s scheme.
“She was a trusted employee. She was darn near a member of the family,” said Martin Meyers, an attorney representing the company.
The suit seeks a $2,679,227.16 judgment against both Laura and Craig DeJong. That’s the amount the suit contends she diverted from the company’s accounts to her own accounts.
The suit seeks a $613,197.34 judgment against Central Bank of Kansas City and a $466,447.35 judgment against UMB Bank. Neither bank would comment on the lawsuit.
Meyers said the suit would have sought more from the banks but for Missouri’s Uniform Commercial Code. The law, adopted in all 50 states, prevents his client from recovering funds lost more than a year before the banks were notified of the scheme.
Even to seek recoveries beyond 30 days, the company has to show the banks were negligent, Meyers said.
And that, the suit asserts, Kansas City Screw Products will do.
Central Bank, the suit said, failed to “exercise ordinary care in paying the forged checks,” “follow reasonable commercial standards,” “compare the forged checks against the signature card on file with Central,” “notify of irregularities in its account balances and numbers of transactions,” “inquire of Laura DeJong’s authority to obtain cash in exchange for checks made out to the bank and/or to petty cash,” and “follow its own internal bank procedures with regard to the foregoing.”
UMB, the suit said, breeched its duties to the company by “not verifying the signatures on the checks that were being forged and used in Laura DeJong’s ‘check kiting’ scheme and was thereby negligent.” UMB should have known about the check kiting and notified the company, the suit said, thereby preventing additional losses.
Notification from UMB also would have allowed the company to seek recovery of earlier losses from Central Bank, the suit said.
Meyers said the $2.67 million loss was meaningful for the family-run business at 2908 E. Truman Road but not enough to impair its work or service to customers.
The company, founded in 1943, makes precision screws and other parts from aluminum, brass, stainless steel, alloys and engineered plastics, its website said.
Kansas City Screw Products survived a devastating fire in 1978 at its original plant site. That’s how a Phoenix became the company’s logo, according to the website.
The lawsuit said the scheme of DeJong, the office manager who also did the company books, began as early as 2003 with a series of company checks payable to her and bearing a forged signature of the company’s president.
In October 2010, the suit said, she began the check kiting scheme that continued until she was terminated on Nov. 30, 2011.
Paper checks, according to federal banking authorities, remain the most prominent fraud vehicle against corporate America. A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta cited an industry survey to say, “Even as check usage continues to decline, check fraud continues to increase and remains one of the largest threats to business today.”
Missouri’s Uniform Commercial Code is likely to decide how the losses will land on Kansas City Screw Products and the two banks, said Keith Thornburg, general counsel for the Missouri Bankers Association. Banks typically are insured against such losses.
“The customer has responsibilities too,” Thornburg said. “Once you sort out the facts, the UCC pretty much resolves all that.”

Read more here: KC Screw Products sues office manager, alleges $2.7 million taken - KansasCity.com

Scum. I'm sure she will say she was depressed or had some kind of an addiction that caused her to steal.

Get CLEAR pics of her and all her background data to put online after the litigation is done, with copies of the finding of her guilt.

This should follow her the rest of her life. If she uses social media, note the sites for future reference.