That must be a shock, when it's people you see all the time and trust.

I know a lady who married a guy who had previously embezzled money from the bank he worked for. He spent some time in the penitentiary.

and no would think a brownie leader would take funds either, but ours did...the girls were so dishearten we left en-mass for camp fire girls...

I know the family of a woman who embezzled over a million bucks from her small credit union. Her DDIL & DS had no inkling of what was going on. Also in a small town.

The DDIL & I were really good friends (before we moved). One time I asked her where where her MIL got the funds to pay for all the things she bought, DDIL said she didn't know. We were both amazed at the things she'd buy. She'd pay cash for brand new vehicle then give it to the other son. Offered to buy a one for them, but they declined. She also paid for the other son's rent then mortgage, and paid off his school loans.... the other son is (was) a big moocher, and the MIL just seemed to have no end in sight to monies to hand out to him.

They found out where the money was coming from when MIL was arrested. Then the investigation deepened. Unfortunately, DDIL & DS were listed as co-defendants in a lawsuit filed by the credit union.

They had to prove all their major purchases were NOT paid for by the MIL. Fortunately-- MIL hadn't splurged on them. However, the other son has big $$ to pay back. As well as the MIL -- who also is serving FEDERAL prison time.

You don't get much time off for good behavior in Federal prison.

All that deceit, the pain, humiliation and embarrassment she brought to the family will NEVER be healed.

And when she gets out of prison, she still has over $1 million + interest to pay back.

It's sad how many people don't mind putting their hands in other's pockets. It's hard to believe that an acquaintance would do something like that. Even harder when a family member does something like that.

Most of you know that we had to fight a long, 7 year battle that cost us in the neighborhood of $20,000 in legal, forensic accounting and other fees--because DH's sister helped herself to over a quarter of a million $$$ of the money that was left for MIL's end care (she had alzheimers). The only reason the crime was that big, was that we DID NOT BELIEVE what was happening--even though we should have seen at least some of the signs that it was.

Unfortunately, in our case, SIL had to repay only a pittance of what she took, she's never been charged or convicted of the crime she committed. BUT she didn't get off scott free, there were some consequences, not the least of which is that she's destroyed the family, and lost friends over this.

But yes, this sort of thing happens all too frequently, and it always seems to be a shock to those of us who would never think to take anything that doesn't belong to us.

I think it is worst now, due to the economy. Being treasurer of organizations I make sure that I have the bank book, statements, etc at every meeting. I learned that years ago when I was very active in PTA and also worked for a bank. It happened in our small town years ago involving a organization. That is why it is so important to demand a treasurer's report for all to see at each meeting. There are other ways to watch out. Guess I never trust anyone too much, which is sad.

There were two employee's in the drivers license bureau, in our county caught embezzeling funds. Doing it seperately but at the same time. Both got jail, probabtion , had to repay what they stole and pay all court costs. I can not believe how anyone could do it.

I live in a small sea side community and our little federal credit union bank manager who seemed like a lovely person embezzled 150.000 from people's funds. She was caught and got a slap on the wrist and had to pay the money back but no other sentence. Her husband is a vip so go figure.

In the small town where I grew up, the accountant of a very successful dealership was embezzling money out of the business account for years. He worked there for 30 years.

It came to light when he and his wife were on one of their many travel trips, and the car company called to see about the invoice.

He spent time in jail, but not much, but the dealer owner had to sell the dealership and the cottage.

White collar crime! I doubt it has anything to do with the state of the economy or 'need'. IMO people convicted of this sort of theft should have to live in jail and wear a tracer/ankle bracelet, but go out to work every day to repay what they'd stolen -- with interest.

Its not the size of the town, but the people who work there. Have you read about the "Koss" case? Koss is a maker of popular headphones. Their lady executive stole millions over several years before it was detected. She took enough to jepordize the survival of the company. She did not "need" the money, but wanted to live high and apparently is a kleptomaniac. She stayed away from people's personl belongings, but the company coffer was fair game. She also had a 'thing' for shoes - had 400 pairs of expensive shoes and some had been worn only once. Some of the money she stole was used to make big gifts to charities, apparently not for good will, but to put on a show of wealth.

I have a friend who recently discovered that his secretary stole $200,000 from him. She made purchases at Macy's, etc. with one of his credit cards. She is a young divorced mom with 3 children.
I just can never understand why anyone steals, especially from an employer. Seems they always get caught.

We had a school principal in a nearby area who embezzled millions from an ambulance organization. What a fine example it sets when your child sees their principal on the evening news for embezzlement.

I don't understand how any company or organization doesn't have checks and balances in place to prevent this. I was a bookkeeper for years. I couldn't sign checks. Our accountant went over our books every month. A few simple safeguards and this should never happen.

When I worked in a grocery store, we had a supervisor cooking the books. Not sure how much she took because I had left by then. She was messing with people's paychecks and giving them more money than they made in order to make it look like she had made a mistake rather than took money.

If you're head pushes of some banks ... and they're big enough ... sometimes you can get the taxpayers to bail you out.

Now - they're claiming that they've paid it all back ... but I'm not entrely convinced.

When some said that some of the perpetrators should have gone to jail - others said that they couldn't be put there - that they hadn't broken any laws!

And many say that there should be more deregulation of major fiancial institutions.

Canadian banks, though large (relatively speaking), have the reputation currently of being the strongest in the OECD ...

... and they are fairly stringently regulated.

ole joyful

Linda -- Thing is...we never hear about the ones who do NOT get caught! I wonder about that when we hear that this city or this state government is cooked. (Living near Chicago might be why I think about it! lol) I'd guess that there is the same proportion of honest to crooked everywhere, but only *some* people are prosecuted.

Greed!