Employee Embezzlement – Know the Signs
| Red Flags that Employee Embezzlement May Be Taking Place |
| The following list describes signs that employee embezzlement may be taking place: |
| FOR CURRENT EMPLOYEES: • Employee lives a lifestyle unsupported by current family or occupational income. • Employee exhibits a sudden change in lifestyle and spending habits. • Employee frequently comments or complains about not having enough money. • Employee, or employee’s spouse, has a gambling problem. • Employee, or employee’s spouse, has a problem with alcohol. • Employee, or employee’s spouse, has a problem with drugs. • Employee experiences marital conflict. • Employee engages in an extramarital affair. • Employee, or employee’s family has accumulated large medical bills. • Employee’s spouse lost their job. • Employee is always first in the morning. • Employee is always last to leave at the end of the day. • Employee comes in after hours to get work done and has seemingly legitimate reasons for doing so. • Employee does not take vacation time. • Employee does not take personal or sick days. • Employee refuses to run a requested financial or internal report. • Employee exhibits nervousness when another employee attempts to help them with their duties. • Employee feels threatened by others being trained on their duties. • Employee will not train other employees on how to do their duties. • Employee simply doesn’t allow anyone else to ever do their duties. • Employee appears resistant to change. • Employee expresses annoyance with reasonable questions about bookkeeping, billing, or insurance items. • Employee has been having more difficulties with their job. • Employee constantly complains about their job, other employees, or the office in general. • Patients complain about accounting errors. • Patient comments that they didn’t receive an account statement. • Deposits only have checks. • Amount of cash payments has decreased over time • Amount of write-offs and other adjustments have increased over time • Increase in Accounts Receivables without corresponding increase in production • Increase in patient comments or complaints about payment, billing, or insurance errors • A drop in income is not supported by a drop in production. • Deposited cash always appears in nice, even numbers. • Insurance PPO write-offs are found on a patient’s account, but the patient is not a member of a PPO plan. • Adjustments to a patient’s account were not approved by the practice owner. • Fees that are not the standard fees have been charged to an account without the approval of a practice owner. • Petty Cash or the Charge Fund are found out-of-balance. • Employee quits unexpectedly, without notice or warning. FOR POTENTIAL NEW EMPLOYEES: • New applicant is hesitant to discuss details of a previous job. • New applicant’s former employer shows reluctance in providing detailed information about the potential employee. • New applicant’s resume has unexplained lapses of work for a period of time. • New applicant will not consent to a background check. |
