EMPLOYEE THEFT
Employee Theft:
A Serious
Problem
T
he greatest threat to your
company may come from
within. For instance, by the
time she was caught, a local
Hawaii employee had allegedly
stolen nearly seven million dollars from
her employer over the course of 10 years.
For 30 years, this employee had served as
the senior accountant at a local nonprofit
organization that assists children and
adults with intellectual and developmental
disabilities. Further investigation by
authorities showed that her thefts
amounted to about $50,000 a month and,
sadly, affected the organization’s ability to
serve its mission. In a statement to the local
news, the organization’s leadership said
they were completely shocked. •
85% of cases were perpetrated by
someone at the manager level or above
(Hiscox Inc.)
•
70% of cases lasted more than a year
(Hiscox Inc.)
Unfortunately, incidents like this are not so
uncommon. Employee theft is happening
daily across the country and costs US
businesses billions of dollars each year.
Here’s a quick look at the numbers: Second, always be on the lookout to detect
fraud early in order to minimize losses.
Is an employee acting suspicious? Any
sudden changes in their spending habits?
• Employee theft is responsible for $50
billion in losses nationwide every year
(Statistic Brain)
• The average loss to a US business in
2016 was $1.13 million (Hiscox Inc.)
•
55% of cases occurred at companies
with fewer than 100 employees
(Hiscox Inc.)
28
Beyond the financial impact, employee
theft can cost a company its reputation.
This means lost customers, prospective
customers, and business partners. So what
can organizations do to protect themselves?
theft is often not covered by standard
business owners' policies. However, crime
and fidelity coverage protect against losses
not only due to employee theft but also
forgery, computer fraud, theft (including
employee theft of client property) and
vandalism of property. Call us at 808-
628-5320 or log onto atlasinsurance.com
and let us help you find a solution to best
protect your business. +
First, review your company’s internal
policies and procedures to make sure they
are written correctly and distributed to all
employees. Foster a workplace culture of
accountability, and make sure that checks
and balances are in place to prevent
crimes of opportunity.
Finally, mitigate the impact on your
bottom line by properly insuring your
business. The chances of recovering the
full amount of embezzled funds—even
after a conviction of the perpetrator—are
slim to none. Having insurance to cover
these losses will help keep your business
up and running.
We strongly encourage you to review your
existing insurance program. Employee
DANA HARADA
ATLAS INSURANCE AGENCY
Dana Harada is a licensed attorney
who practiced at a local law firm in
the areas of commercial litigation,
insurance defense, and coverage
analysis before joining Atlas Insurance
as an Account Executive in the Client
Consulting Group. Dana received
her undergraduate degree from Tufts
University and her JD from William S.
Richardson School of Law.