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ASK
OUR EXPERTS...
I suspect that staff may be stealing from my business. What can a private
investigator do to help me?
By Terry Handrahan of Gryphon Investigations Ltd.
Keeping and retaining staff continues to be big issue in our overheated
economy, but losses from internal theft can have a greater effect on the
bottom line in your business than the potential loss of employees. Without
action, the problem can grow and infect other employees with a new corporate
culture.
Examples of internal theft can range from the theft of company supplies and
equipment, to taking cash from the register, selling your products to
friends for cash, and embezzlement from company accounts. Sometimes things
such as excessive use of company expense accounts could indicate the
employee has other personal issues, such as drinking and gambling addictions
that will lead to low productivity and potential liability to your company
if it is not addressed.
Retaining an experienced and professional investigator can assist you to
reduce your financial losses, limit your liability and help to recover the
deficiency. An investigator is there to represent your interests and provide
you with practical advice and options. Based upon the facts of the case, the
investigator has many options or “tools of the trade” available to assist
you in getting the information you need to make an informed decision.
Options can range from interviewing witnesses and gaining statements,
conducting surveillance on employees as part of integrity checks, installing
covert (hidden) video cameras in your place of business, completing
background, pre-employment and asset checks, or, in some cases, bringing in
an undercover investigator as part of your staff.
Investigators are exempt from some provisions of the privacy laws when
conducting a legitimate civil or criminal case. Also, as they are seen as
impartial and unbiased, for example, they do not have a personal interest in
the company, and as such their evidence is usually better received by the
courts. They can give you advice, based upon the evidence, as to whether
criminal charges should be sought through the police and/or if a civil
remedy is the best alternative. The investigator is there to advise you on
the privacy laws, in particular those related to video and audio evidence,
and the requirements for making a civil or criminal case.
For more advice on stopping staff theft, please contact Terry Handrahan
of Gryphon Investigations Ltd. at 403.815.8187 or email
terry@gryphinv.com
www.gryphinv.com |
