There are several reasons that employees commit fraud against their employer, and they include personal financial hardship, opportunity, and rationalization or retaliation.  Now more than ever, the principals of crime prevention hold true; specifically, desire, ability, and opportunity.  Believe it or not, you can take protective measures to mitigate the risk and limit your exposure to employee theft.  And you should, because the losses to the industry are overwhelming.

In 2015:

• $50 billion was stolen from U.S. businesses by employees
• 7% of annual revenues were lost to theft or fraud
• 75% of employees have stolen at least once from their employer
• 37% of employees have stolen at least twice from their employer
• 33% of all business bankruptcies were caused by employee theft
• 2 years pass on average before the fraud is detected
• 42% of loss due to employee theft
• 15% of loss due to administrative errors

Brown, Kaszak, & Associates assists businesses with the investigations into external and employee theft.  The truth of the matter is that according to the National Retail Federation, prosecutions, terminations and civil demands for internal incidents has dropped.  In other words, often times businesses are left to their own devices to not only identify the responsible parties, but also to take preventive measures to reduce the likelihood of future thefts.

The investigative firm of Brown, Kaszak & Associates has assisted businesses that have experienced loss due to internal or external theft by identifying responsible parties, assisted in the recovery of stolen assets, and providing unimpeachable testimony in criminal or civil actions.  Additionally, we work with business owners to mitigate risk by evaluating your processes and procedures, and developing a strategy to reduce the desire and opportunity for employees to commit acts of fraud or theft.