Boss stealing from company: I'm afraid to be the whistle blower, what to do?

B

billysharp

Guest
Hi,
I have found out a major problem in work that i dont know what i should do.
  1. I have found that my boss has been doctoring reciepts i.e. if it cost €50 he's putting a €150 or €250 on the reciept and has ALOt of these reciepts handed in to head office
  2. He has also bought vast qualtities of items via the company and is using them for his own personel use i.e they were never intended for use here
I think its well into the thusands that he has taken from the company so far, but wouldnt be surprised if it was into the tens of thousands
I'm not sure what to do? Should i tell someone in higher management whats going on. Or should i say nothing and hope he gets too greedy and gets caught?
I am afraid to what he might do to me if i do tell higher management and also what they might think of me, i.e a rat or whatever.
At the minute i'm pretending nothing is happening but i'd like advice on what i should do or if anyone had experience in this and what was the outcome
 
Re: What to do.....?

Is it possible to inform management anonymously or are you in a small organisation ? You need to be very certain of your facts and the need to be undeniable.
 
Re: What to do.....?

I'm in a small team within a big organisation. He'd be able to pin point it within days if it was a tip off. Hence my worry about what he could do between finding out and i persume getting fired, he could do anything.

The things he bought on the company accounts are easier prove but the reciepts would be alot harder, but if the comapny are holding onto the copies that he faxed down for expenses then it'd be easy to prove, just go to suppliers and ask for xyz reciepts, they wont match and it shoudl be proof?
 
Re: What to do.....?

If the abuse is as clear cut as you suggest it is and there's good evidence it sounds like an open an shut case.

You will be seen as a whistle blower not a rat.

Your boss is stealing and will get fired and hopefully prosecuted.

Unfortunately this is a common enough occurrence. It's happened a couple of times where I worked (big company) and nobody mourns the departure of the culprit. It makes for great canteen talk.

What happens to you if they find out you knew and didn't report it? Right now you're standing in the firing line.
 
Re: What to do.....?

Yeah, i was wondering about knowing and not telling too, which is suggesting that the best thing is to say it to higher management. Thing is i always tought it was going on, but when i saw the proof which was only two weeks ago, its only then i'm starting looking for advice.
 
Re: What to do.....?

I'm not sure what happened to this particular piece of [broken link removed] the right thing to do of course is to whistle blow, but be sure of your own rights also.
 
Re: What to do.....?

Hi,

  1. I have found that my boss has been doctoring reciepts i.e. if it cost €50 he's putting a €150 or €250 on the reciept and has ALOt of these reciepts handed in to head office
  2. He has also bought vast qualtities of items via the company and is using them for his own personel use i.e they were never intended for use here

I think its well into the thusands that he has taken from the company so far, but wouldnt be surprised if it was into the tens of thousands
I'm not sure what to do? Should i tell someone in higher management whats going on. Or should i say nothing and hope he gets too greedy and gets caught?

I am afraid to what he might do to me if i do tell higher management and also what they might think of me, i.e a rat or whatever.
At the minute i'm pretending nothing is happening but i'd like advice on what i should do or if anyone had experience in this and what was the outcome

Firstly how did you find this out, is it part of your job to check/ sign off on his expenses?

Are you sure these purchases are not for his 'home office', we have alot of that gal going on in our place when you query stuff?

He is already got to the greedy stage if you believe he possibly has taken tens of thousands, which means someone is not doing their job properly or choosing to ignore it for a reason...

Think long and hard before you do anything, if signing off these expenses is part of your job then I believe you need to flag you concerns to prove you are carrying out you job. Note them as a concern not an allegation but you will need to have facts not just suspicions. If you have facts they need to be by way of you carrying out your own job ie. not by having these suspicions by something you noticed on someone elses desk.

I am speaking from a similar experience myself and in the end nothing was done about it, it was all hushed up but I found I was very much on trial when trying to prove my concerns which arose as part of my job and I would hesitate in voicing my concerns in the future.

Finally is their an Internal Audit Dept in your Company, if you can backup this then perhaps copy the documentation you have and send it anomously to them but if what you see is not part of your job to notice and unless you think his actions are likely to threaten the jobs of the Company's Employees then I would steer clear of it and leave the onus back on whoever is signing off these costs to do their job right.
 
Re: What to do.....?

No its not part of my job to sign off on his time sheets or documents. How i first got suspicious was i bouth an item for 120, but then when i saw it goign into the office for expenses (photo copited) it was changed to 420. So other things lying around the office i had a look at and they were all doctored. The stuff he is buying is unique specialised items, they cant be used here in work so there's no other place that they can be used only for his own use.
I dont know why there's not an audit or why somoeone in accounts arent doing their job. I also send in reciepts but i send in the originals every 2 months, my boss doesnt do this so i dont know why they dont come after him.
This isnt something im going to do on Monday morning, but i just want to do the right thing for everyone involved
 
Re: Stealing from Company

You can either
(a) report it to management, making sure you have conclusive evidence
or
(b) pass the buck to the Accounts Dept by leaving one of the original 'doctored' documents on the desk of the person whose responsibility it is to pass the expenses for payment.
 
Re: Boss Stealing from Company: Im afraid to be the whistle blower, what to do?

I would go and confide in someone you can trust. Maybe in HR or something. Explain what has happened and tell them you are confiding in them and you expect this to be confidential. They will respect your honesty I think.
 
Re: Boss Stealing from Company: Im afraid to be the whistle blower, what to do?

Hi

I once worked in a place ( a long time ago) where there was an agreement between management and this one guy to pay him an additional 1000 per month tax free.

The agreement was that the employee would "doctor" his receipts once a month to the value of 1000.

You should consider that this might be the arrangement here also. The management may be aware of the "system" in place.

I dont want to comment on the rights or wrongs of this just to give an other possible explanation.

This might also explain why he doesnt send in original receipts and why no one in accounts is querying it.
 
Re: Boss Stealing from Company: Im afraid to be the whistle blower, what to do?

Hi

I once worked in a place ( a long time ago) where there was an agreement between management and this one guy to pay him an additional 1000 per month tax free.

The agreement was that the employee would "doctor" his receipts once a month to the value of 1000.

You should consider that this might be the arrangement here also. The management may be aware of the "system" in place.

I dont want to comment on the rights or wrongs of this just to give an other possible explanation.

This might also explain why he doesnt send in original receipts and why no one in accounts is querying it.

This is something that occured to me also as soon as I read the original post. I find it very odd that something which cost €120 can be passed off as having cost €420 and that it wouldn't be queried at some level. My other half's expenses (also in a large organisation) are thoroughly checked before being paid out. He was was phoned by someone one time in accounts to ask if he was 'entertaining' because he'd had two beers from the mini-bar instead of just one when away on business :rolleyes:
 
you could mention it to your internal auditors...off the record.. they could take it from there as a routine internal audit..
 
When you say he is your boss, how senior is he in the company? Is he the head guy in Ireland?

If he is not the head guy, is every manager at this by agreement?

Is there an internal audit function? Is it based in Ireland? Do they visit at all? They might not visit your site if it's a large company.

Do you have an external audit from KPMG, PwC or a firm like that?

I don't suppose that there are any non-executive directors?

What is your current standing in the company? Do they value you or do they want to get rid of you? Do you have a review process in place? I would seek to have a review done if you expect a positive review and get it in writing. This would be necessary just in case there was any comeback on you. If you get a postive review and subsequently report a fraud, they will find it very difficult to victimise you.

They will not be able to keep you and your boss in the same place. Can they realistically move you to another job? Can they move him?

If they treat you unfairly, you would succeed in any claim for constructive dismissal.

There is a very good radio programme on RTE 1 on Sunday Mornings called Whistle Blowers. It's quite depressing because in the two cases I have heard so far, the whistle blower came off worse. Last week it was the guy whose research showed that women in the Irish army were being bullied. The establishment moved against him and it took a High Court case for him to get damages for defamation. He never got an apology.

Another one was the priest in Maynooth who reported that the guy in charge of students was abusing them. He got transferred to a curate's job somewhere and was only exonerated many years later.

Brendan
 
Agree with the above - don't automatically assume that this will be punished once reported. There is no supreme justice in operation in most companies just a series of individuals who will try to deal with a situation to the best of their ability or to their own end. This will as likely be hushing it up , a verbal warning or written warning as much as it could be instant dismissal.
If this guy is well respected/highly valued you will likely get his management backing him up to save his job. If your evidence is a few receipts in the space of a few weeks he can claim it is a recent thing/ desperate for cash short term/stress at home etc etc
I have seen separate instances of sexual harrassment/ pilfering and overtime fraud go unpunished, therefore would be a reluctant whistleblower in this situation if it cannot be done anonymously. Perhaps, you could confide in someone else that doesn't work directly for him and let them do the whistleblowing ? Or spread the word around and let it become 'common knowledge' ....
 

First of all keep a record of all the transactions, a file of evidence if you like, take it out of the business and bring it home as an insurance policy. Make sure they are hard copies or good files.
Personally I would then ask your boss to explain why the differences appear , can he/she explain in an innocent fashion. I would imagine that it is your responsibility to make him aware or someone else in order not to viewed as complicit. I would like to hear his response, could be genuine who knows, could be testing you or he could be stealing
But if you feel that he then puts you under pressure or treats your differently after this you need to raise the bar with the company - look at it this way , you bring this to senior mgt or advise him that you are going to go to senior mgt and that you have the proof in the office your then what's known as bullet-proof. Don't tell them about your insurance file though in case your double crossed which can happen. How can they be negative towards you or ill treat you ,you would have them by the nuts and the evidence to boot , same thing happened to a friend of mine only for larger amounts. More or less went up to the top of the food chain overnight as a result.
 
Be careful.

There was a similar problem in a company I worked in. The receptionist and one of the accounts people were also doctoring receipts and buying stuff from amazon etc. for their own use.

Another girl in accounts told the MD. The MD did nothing. Both accounts people were shortly after made redundant. The receptionist still works there.

So be prepared for things to not work out the way you expect them to...
 
Dont be afraid to do what you feel is the right thing to do. Keep adequate proof to back your allegations up if you feel it is your duty to your employer to inform them that there are certain irregularities in some receipts you discovered. Let them deal with it in their own way. If you are punished for doing the right thing then you will have a very strong case against them. If they know already and are trying to catch him or gain enough proof then they will think highly of you for doing the right thing.
If they turn against you it then its not the type of place/people where/who you really should be working for.
 
do what you feel is morally right he must be a scum bag remember this effects everybody in the company
 
Any update billysharp? You must have come to a decision on such a serious matter by now? Good luck if you are in the middle of taking action.
 
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