• Country club employee pleads no contest to embezzling more than $125,000.
• Theft charges filed against country club employee.
• Country Club employee awaits trial for allegedly stealing from the club.
• Head bookkeeper at country club arrested after audit shows loss of about $50,000.
• Employee of country club arrested for theft exceeding $10,000.
• Club employee charged with 29 felonies after nearly $200,000 went missing.
• Country club employee indicted for using club credit cards for over $69,000 of personal purchases.
Unfortunately, we all have read headlines similar to these.
Thefts by club employees are more common than one might think. According to an FBI survey of business managers, 38% consider fraud to be a serious problem in their company.
Employee theft can take one of many forms, including:
• Embezzlement
• Skimming
• Fraudulent disbursements
• Check tampering
• Billing schemes
• Payroll schemes
It is estimated that 75% or more of all employee related thefts go undetected. The real statistics are hard to quantify as many companies do not report employee related thefts for fear of the negative publicity they feel might come with the public disclosure of the theft.
There are steps a club can take to help prevent fraud from occurring:
• Establishment of a system of checks and balances
• Segregation of employee duties
• Employee background checks
• Regular audits and bookkeeping examinations
• Establish a fraud hotline
• Being alert to unusual activity by employees
Laydon and Company’s Private Club Services Group professionals can help you review your current anti-fraud programs or help you establish one if your club does not have one in place now.
If you have any questions or need any assistance in this area, please contact Elmer Laydon of our Private Club Services Group.
This article is designed to provide general information in regard to the subject matter. As everyone’s facts and circumstances are different, this article has been prepared with the understanding that neither Laydon and Company, LLC nor the author of this article is providing accounting, tax or legal advice or is performing any legal, accounting or other professional service. If accounting, tax or legal advice or other expert assistance is required, please call Laydon and Company, LLC’s Private Club Services Group to discuss your specific circumstances.