Corporate Investigation: Employee Theft
We were contacted by the owner of a moving company who had offices in Houston, Dallas, and Austin. Our client stated he was suspicious of his brother who ran the Houston location because he had gotten an anonymous tip that he was doing moving jobs and pocketing the cash.
Gradoni & Associates Investigate
Investigator Keith Kucifer surveilled an actual move which involved our client’s employees and trucks moving used modules from a company and taking them to a used furniture dealer. Our investigation learned that the client paid cash for the services which were never turned in to the company. The used modules were sold to the used furniture store for cash which also disappeared.
Investigators Gradoni and Kucifer interviewed a number of employees who identified other jobs that seemed suspicious. After contacting the clients and learning about the method of payments we were able to determine that the funds were never submitted to the company.
In some instances checks were written to one of the brother’s co-workers. The scheduler when interviewed confessed to his participation in the thefts and also to laundering the money for the wayward brother, cashing the checks, and giving him a majority of the illicit profits.
Once we were done with the investigation it appeared that the theft total was over $20,000.
RESULT OF INVESTIGATION: Our client was faced with making a decision to file charges on his brother or to just simply terminate him from the family business. Although the brother is not in jail, he no longer has a job with extra benefits.
Return to the Private Eyes of Texas Newsletter; March 2018