Investigations into thefts and shortfalls

Pilfering and purloin inquiries

Events of stealing and money shortfalls can occur in an organisation.

These encompass, for example, cash shortages at the cash register (most often affecting cashiers or managers), theft of goods and products stored in the warehouse or displayed in sales areas (most often affecting warehouse staff or sales support staff dealing with customers), the difference between the number of goods shipped and those actually arriving at the various destination points (most often affecting transport and logistics staff).

Think of all those product sales that are correctly reported in the cash registers but are later cancelled or reversed in order to pocket the proceeds of the said sale. And also of all those cases in which the disappearance of the goods is deliberately performed with the aim of the employee reselling them to third parties in order to make a profit, thereby rounding up the salary.

The above list is by no means intended to be complete and exhaustive, but only to cite a few tangible examples that occur every day within company premises and manufacturing activities. The types of shortfalls are in fact limitless, not restricted only to those described above.

Inventory shortages can be caused by the company's own employees or by the staff of external companies with which the company has collaboration and partnership relations, by the customers themselves or by third parties, and only to a small extent by calculation or data entry errors on the part of inhouse staff.

When inconsistencies and discrepancies occur during audits, it is good practice for companies to promptly take countermeasures to determine whether the shortfall concerned is of fraudulent origin (deliberate removal of money from the till, misappropriation of goods and products by staff, etc.) or whether it is attributable to fraudulent intent. Or whether it is the result of an error on the part of an employee or associate (e.g. a calculation or data-entry error on the part of an employee in the administration or a specific department).

Regardless of its nature, shortfall impacts on cash flow and the company's balance sheet and should therefore be addressed and resolved as a matter of priority.

Subsequent to the occurrence of such facts or in order to prevent them at their root, it is possible for businesses to turn to investigation companies in order to shed full light on the origin of shortages. Investigation activities will be performed appropriately in order to reconstruct the nature of the shortages being analysed, and will be aimed at ascertaining whether they are the result of miscalculations or illicit behaviour on the part of customers, internal staff or any other party, so as to safeguard the company and its manufacturing needs.

The identification of the nature of the shortfall by private detectives will allow the company to reconstruct the origin and dynamics of the issue, enabling it, should the criminal hypothesis emerge, to also identify the perpetrators of the offence committed.

At the end of the inquiry, a report will be delivered to the employer with a description of the facts that occurred with the elements of proof that identify the author of the criminal conduct and that will allow the company to take the appropriate countermeasures to assert its rights against the latter. It may imply the dismissal of the employee or with other disciplinary measures that the company deems most appropriate.

Of course, the company will also have the right to inform the authorities concerned about the offence committed and consequently file a complaint.