Prosecuting Employees Involved in Theft

LPT Security Consulting is a Houston-based, full service, security consulting firm.  The founder and President, J. Patrick Murphy, has over 35 years experience in the areas of law enforcement, security management, loss prevention and consulting.

Employee theft is pervasive across the spectrum of business and corporations in this country.  Unfortunately detecting the theft activity can be difficult as the offending employee has multiple schemes working at the same time.  Employees under investigation often see unusual activity from accounting, meetings with supervisors, and even files moved from their usual place as signs their activity has been detected.  Finally catching the employee is a long way from prosecuting them.  The theft interview questions are critical for an optimal outcome.

Here are some quick tips regarding prosecuting employee acts from fraud and embezzlement to the theft of gas for a personal car through a company credit card.

First there are three basic approaches to employee investigations:

1. Work through the investigation internally to compile the evidence.

2. Hire an outside investigator with the skills to properly develop a criminal case

3. Contact local law enforcement and allow them to fully investigate the crime.

With each of those there are positives and negatives but there is one constant:  prosecuting an employee for theft or other malfeasance takes the same route.  For the sake of this discussion, it is assumed that the employee has already been terminated.

1. All criminal cases to be considered for employee prosecution must enter the criminal justice system through law enforcement.  If the investigation was conducted internally, ensure that all evidence is available for police.  Keep in mind that a patrol officer will most probably take only the basic facts.  The case will later be assigned to an investigative unit.  In short, initiating prosecution is no different for internal theft than the police catching someone in the act of burglarizing a home.
    

2. At some point an investigator or detective will contact the company in order to obtain the full background of the case and to obtain any documentation, statements or other evidence.  They may also attempt to have the employee come to their office to discuss the allegations but those meetings rarely ever take place.
    

3. Once the Detective has completed their investigation the case is brought to a Magistrate, a District Attorney's office, or some other local prosecuting party.  The decision to actually proceed with prosecution rests with these agencies.  This is where the concise investigation by the employer is so very important.  There may be areas of the case that are worrisome for a prosecutor or the evidence just does not support all allegations.  Here's an example:  Your employee works in a machine shop and it is discovered that two welding machines had been ordered but cannot be located.  The initial investigation clearly points to the employee but you have not located the machines and the employee simply says: I don't know what you are talking about".  That would be a difficult case to prosecute given the narrow set of circumstances.  The Prosecutor ultimately may agree that the chances of conviction are poor and simply decide to not pursue it further.
    

4. If the case goes into the court system there are numerous ways a case can be adjudicated (resolved) including probation, probation with restitution, a sentence of jail time but with credit for time served and no restitution or fine or not guilty.  The key underlying point that needs to be understood:  prosecution is always an option that should be explored.  The outcome may not always be as envisioned by the employer.  Consult with your company legal team before proceeding with any prosecutions.

More information can be found about employee theft prosecution here.

We also provide internal investigations training, interview and interrogation, and training for security and loss prevention departments.

If you'd like to know more about LPT Security Consulting click here or call us at 713-899-2402. Our email is pat.murphy@lptoday.com.

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