While many companies prefer not to disclose that they have been a victim of while collar crime, this dastardly form of criminality is known to cost American businesses billions, if not trillions every year. Once in a while, a huge case hits the headlines, with scandals rocking entire industries or prompting the creation of new legislation to better protect the public.
To many, these white collar crime examples can seem unrelatable in their sheer scale and audacity—but within each newsreel-worthy story of vast-scale fraud, bribery, or insider trading lies a valuable lesson for even the most modest of business owners. In truth, no enterprise is immune to the threat of white collar crime. This makes learning valuable lessons and being proactive about prevention key to avoiding becoming another number in the worst kinds of statistics.
What Can We Learn from These White Collar Crime Examples?
You may be familiar with these white collar crime examples, but why not stop and look again? Within each dramatic tale lies a valuable lesson for any business or organization that is keen to safeguard against the perils of white collar crime and the painful losses, workplace investigations, and potential litigation that so often follow.
Bernie Madoff’s Story Shows Us the Vital Role of Reporting Channels
Perhaps the most famous white collar crime in all of history, Bernie Madoff’s dastardly actions introduced the term “Ponzi scheme” into the everyday American lexicon. Once a jack of all trades, Madoff managed to climb his way up to become the chairman of the NASDAQ before forging a multi-billion dollar investment firm on the back of entirely falsified trading reports.
Despite years of swirling rumor, the villain remain unscathed until one of his own sons reported him to the authorities. For Madoff, the result of that fateful flow of information was a 150-year jail sentence passed in 2009. The question is, how healthy are your enterprise’s reporting channels?
The Wirecard Scandal Demonstrates the Importance of Oversight
In another dark star among white collar crime examples, all appeared to be going fantastically for the 20-year-old German electronic payments company Wirecard. However, an unexpected audit revealed a $2 billion hole in their books.
Ultimately, CEO Markus Braun took the fall in 2020 for falsifying financial records, while his co-conspirator COO Jan Marsalek fled charges and is thought to be hiding out in Russia. The question is, how stringent are your organization’s financial oversight mechanisms?
The HealthSouth Accounting Case Shows Why Ethics Are Key in Corporate Culture
Despite the facade of a focus on wholesome well-being, HealthSouth had been attracting suspicion for its financial dealings since the 1980s. Unfortunately, behind closed doors founder Richard Scrushy had falsified billions of dollars worth of profits, engaged in bribery and mail fraud, and tragically defrauded Medicare and other federal healthcare programs. It makes us wonder, how strong is the ethical framework within your company’s corporate culture plan?
Marcus Schrenker’s Story Showcases the Power of Corporate Investigations
As alarming as all cases of white collar crime might be, there is comfort in knowing that effective corporate investigations can leave fraudsters quaking in their boots. In 2008, Indiana native Marcus Shrenker’s unethical practices as a money-grabbing investment advisor ultimately caught up with him.
An investigation ensued, and rather than face the consequences of his actions, Schrenker attempted to fake his own death by staging a plane crash and parachuting to safety. Happily, investigators saw right through the theatrics and put Schrenker behind bars. The moral of the story is that even the most cunning of criminals are no match for high-caliber corporate investigators!
Do You Require Assistance Keeping White Collar Crime at Bay?
Here at Lauth Investigations International, we take immense pride in helping corporations across the country safeguard the interests of their shareholders and employees while supporting their success and prosperity. This includes the provision of deft, swift, and effective white collar crime investigations. However, it also includes preventative strategies, such as corporate culture audits, candidate background checks, and more. Do you require assistance keeping white collar crime at bay? If so, get in touch today for a no-obligation consultation about how we can support you best.
Would your business benefit from the support of professional investigators to mitigate the risk of violence and threats in the workplace? The answer to that question might surprise you.
When we imagine the role of the corporate PI, we might imagine them investigating a seedy manager accused of sexual harassment or a spate of thefts in a retail setting. However, one of the most valuable places to which an investigator might turn their attention is in fact prevention. When the same expertise and diligence is focused toward preventing criminality as would be to investigate it, harm can often be prevented altogether.
When it comes to workplace violence specifically, American businesses are thought to lose an average of $250 to $330 billion every year in fall-out—and that most likely doesn’t represent the full picture, given that one in four incidents of workplace violence goes entirely unreported. So how can we assist as you strive to keep your employees safe? Read on as we cover the strategies used by corporate investigators to keep workplaces thriving.
Your Responsibility to Prevent Workplace Violence
Before delving into how a corporate investigator from Lauth Investigations International can serve your business in threat prevention, it is vital to first understand your responsibility as an employer or individual responsible for human resources oversight. For any employer, common law principles apply in this area, including a responsibility to guard against discrimination and harassment, to avoid negligence in hiring and retention, through premises safety liability, and ultimately as respondent superior whenever an incident occurs.
Statistics suggest that as many as 90% of American organizations do not comply with federal OSHA reporting and recordkeeping regulations. This becomes problematic when we consider that OHSA states that “employers may be found in violation of the General Duty Clause if they fail to reduce or eliminate serious recognized hazards. Under this Instruction, inspectors should therefore gather evidence to demonstrate whether an employer recognized, either individually or through its industry, the existence of a potential workplace violence hazard affecting his or her employees. Furthermore, investigations should focus on whether feasible means of preventing or minimizing such hazards were available to employers.”
How Specialist Corporate Investigators Can Help You Meet Obligations
In an era that sees 62% of American companies perceive an active shooter as a top threat, knowing where to begin with prevention can seem intimidating. For most organizations, seeking external guidance is the best possible strategy—ensuring effective safeguards and an added layer of defense against possible litigation. To make your enterprise a hard target for would-be perpetrators, professional and licensed investigators can:
Carry out in-depth background checks on all new employees, accessing many of the same databases used by law enforcement
Provide a deterrent presence and framework guidance for the enforcement of a zero-tolerance policy on workplace violence
Support effective an legally air-tight workplace investigations, creating a safer work environment for your team while protecting your brand’s reputation
Ultimately, as an HR professional or leader driving excellence, your primary goal is to drive the progress and prosperity of your business. This makes seeking expert support for safety in the workplace and strong corporate culture a savvy strategy—allowing you to continue focusing on what you do best. If you would like to discuss tailored solutions to suit the size, nature, and current standing of your enterprise, the corporate team at Lauth Investigations International is here to help. For a no-obligation consultation on how we can support you in effectively combating workplace violence and more, get in touch today.
Did you know that a single shady threat is behind a potential $1.7 trillion in annual losses for American businesses each year? Alarmingly, the number can only be estimated because as many as 90% of instances of this particular flavor of crime go unreported. And who or what is this sly and shadowy danger? It’s none other than white collar crime. So, would you know how to protect yourself against it, and do you have effective measures in place?
Understanding the Enemy: What Is White Collar Crime?
The term “white collar crime” was coined back in 1949 by a sociologist named Edwin Sutherland. He defined it as a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in an era that typically saw white-collar workers hold office positions and blue-collar workers hold industry roles. Crucially, white collar crime is usually non-violent in nature, instead targeting financial gain, while being perpetrated by individuals, businesses, organizations, and government officials alike. Examples include but are not limited to:
Ponzi schemes
Embezzlement
Accounting fraud
Bribery
Email fraud
Identity theft
Money laundering
Data theft
Insider trading
Securities fraud
All too sadly, the Lauth team’s extensive experience in corporate workplace investigations tells us that we are living in an era of rampant white collar criminality escalation. The usual suspects of Ponzi schemes, accounting and securities fraud, money laundering, and insider trading are joined by an ever-expanding realm of internet scams, ranging from cryptocurrency scandals to fraudulent email networks.
While some of these schemes target individuals, many set the assets of businesses and enterprises in their crosshairs. Without stringent preventative measures, many companies don’t realize the scale of the risk until it’s too late—and are left trying to stay afloat while desperately trying to claw back a portion of their losses and field potential liability if customer or investor assets have been lost.
The Bottom Line on White Collar Crime Today
Because of the scale of the threat, white collar crime is taken very seriously at a federal level, with the FBI, SEC, and NASD working with state authorities to bring perpetrators to justice. Penalties for committing a white collar crime include prison, fines, and paying restitution—although many cornered white collar criminals submit to negotiated repayment programs, avoiding the involvement of law enforcement agencies altogether. As we touched upon earlier, data reveals that this is clearly a path that many organizations prefer.
However, out-maneuvering the perpetrator of white collar crime requires deft workplace investigations, and most organizations call in expert investigatory assistance in this area. Skilled and licensed corporate investigators can carry out forensic accounting, gather evidence, conduct suspect surveillance—even going undercover when necessary to paint a clear picture of the crime and provide proof that will stick. In this vein, a high caliber of documented evidence is your best protection against loss of assets and potential liability for the company itself.
Better yet, prevention is an excellent place for the savvy business owner to begin. Criminal behavior is bred in toxic working environments and when un-vetted employees are allowed to join your workforce. So, alongside rapid, discreet, and diligent investigations of white collar crime, the team here at Lauth Investigations International also assists with preventative corporate culture audits and comprehensive background checks—drawing on many of the same databases used by law enforcement agencies to keep your company’s assets safe. Do you need support in navigating the choppy waters of white collar crime? From effective prevention to covert workplace investigations, the seasoned corporate team here at Lauth Investigations International can provide just the skillset required to help you reach dry land unscathed. Reach out today to discuss your needs and receive no-obligation guidance on our diversity of investigative and preventative services.
Would your workforce know what to do in the face of threatening employee behavior? Would your human resources team know how to respond to reports of a violent coworker? Perhaps most crucially of all, would you?
Astoundingly, more than half of American employees report being unaware or unsure of their employer’s emergency preparedness plans, and around a fifth don’t know what they would do if they witnessed or were directly involved with an instance of workplace violence.
These numbers suggest that employers are dropping the ball, which is surprising given that American businesses lose somewhere in the range of $250 to $330 billion every year to the fallout of such incidents. From lost productivity and absences through to liability and litigation—which can result in average legal costs ranging from $500,000 for out-of-court settlement to $3 million for a jury award settlement—a violent or threatening employee, customer, or other individuals can represent a huge threat to any enterprise.
What to Do If You Experience Violence or Threats in the Workplace
Being able to recognize an immediate danger of violence or threatening behavior is a skill, and most employers need to engage external specialists in order to identify potential vulnerabilities, minimize risk, and provide tailored training to suit their unique enterprise. A violence and threat assessment is a great place to start in this endeavor—but what should you do if preventative and reactive strategies are not fully implemented and an incident occurs on your watch?
Workplace violence is an umbrella term that encompasses not only physical attack, but also verbal abuse, intimidation, threatening behavior, bullying, discrimination, and more. While these non-physical acts may not seem so dangerous, they can be warning signs of further risk ahead. This makes it critical to enforce a zero-tolerance policy and encourage reporting. All incidents of workplace violence or threatening employee behavior should be reported and investigated, no matter how large or small.
Behavioral red flags should be responded to with responsible human resources investigations, including observation, fact-finding, interviewing, documenting, discipline, and reporting in alignment with company policies and legal obligations. However, when threatening or violent behavior escalates, it is important to react promptly and take any threat seriously:
If a threat is made, secure your own safety and the safety of others
If you suspect that persons or premises may be in danger, contact the authorities by dialing 911
Seek supervisory and security team support in responding to any perpetrator of workplace violence or threats
Cooperate with responding law enforcement personnel
Following Workplace Violence and Ensuring Future Prevention
Whether an incident of workplace violence results in injury or not, it is vital to understand how it took place and take steps to avoid repetition. In achieving this goal, a corporate culture investigations specialist can be an essential ally. Here at Lauth Investigations International, we provide a spectrum of workplace investigations services that aim to aid businesses not only in their reactive human resources investigations but also in proactive risk mitigation.
Preventing workplace violence can be tackled from a number of different angles. A comprehensive violence and threat assessment can pinpoint vulnerabilities and provide insight for future training and security practices. Meanwhile introducing detailed background checks for new employees can help to avoid hiring someone with a dark past, and a corporate culture audit can support the permanent elimination of toxic behavior in the workplace. Would you like to know more about how the corporate team here at Lauth Investigations International can help you keep your workplace safe, supportive, productive, and prosperous? If so, connect with us today for a no-obligation chat about your unique workplace violence prevention needs.
Every year across the United States, white collar crime affects over 35% of American businesses, resulting in losses that some believe run into the trillions. And yet, prosecutions plummet with each passing year, and only a few thousand perpetrators are brought to justice annually.
This might seem like a mystery, but the hard truth is that the vast majority of victims prefer not to disclose this kind of crime. In fact, it is believed that as many as 90% of instances are never reported to the authorities. While that may seem shocking to some, it isn’t hard to imagine why countless organizations wouldn’t want details of a white collar crime scandal hitting the headlines. So, who can a business owner turn to in the name of not only investigating but also preventing white collar crime? The perfect ally is the private corporate investigator—and here’s why.
Professional Investigators In Your Corner to Combat White Collar Crimewith Workplace Investigations
While it may be some comfort to know that skilled corporate investigators are at hand to roll out their forensic accounting, surveillance, and evidence-gathering skills if your business ever falls prey to a white collar criminal, a far more appealing option is to avoid this danger altogether. So, what can be done to mitigate the risk of white collar crime in the first place?
Strong Entry and Exit Procedures
A key element of preventing white collar crime is not allowing potential perpetrators across the threshold in the first place. In this area, licensed corporate investigators are uniquely positioned to subject potential recruits to comprehensive background checks. While your internal human resources oversight may only stretch to data in the public sphere, we can delve into many of the same databases used by law enforcement and uncover any skeletons hidden within or beyond your candidate’s resume.
Of course, when an employee exits your enterprise, a cautious and inquisitive strategy can also be of value. Not only is this an excellent opportunity to mitigate the risk of disgruntled ex-employees, but those leaving can also provide valuable insight into workplace toxicity that leadership might have missed. If workplace investigations are already underway, a professional investigator may be able to provide interview support during this process.
Establishing a Resilient Corporate Culture
How healthy do you believe the culture is within your workplace? Are your teams home to great communication, cooperation, and mutual respect—or have toxicity, bullying, and small-scale employee theft been allowed to fester? Crucially, poor corporate culture is a recipe for a diversity of business-crippling issues, ranging from theft and malingering through to workplace violence and white collar crime. A corporate culture audit conducted by professional investigators is ideal for revealing exactly what the current landscape is and developing a clear plan to course-correct as required.
Prevention and Detection Mechanisms
If you don’t already have tight control systems and a clear ethical framework built into your day-to-day operations, now is the time to start. Identifying opportunities to improve prevention protocols can be achieved alongside a wider-arching violence and threat assessment for your workplace.
Crucially, a cohesive culture of shared responsibility, strategic oversight, and procedural awareness is foundational to the well-being of employees and enterprise alike. So too is an ever-available reporting mechanism so that white collar criminality can be revealed through the regular opportunity for employees to provide open feedback. Your employees can be your gravest threat or your greatest ally—so choose wisely!
What to Do if You Suspect White Collar Crime
Even with the strongest prevention strategies, no business can be entirely safe from the threat of white collar crime. Vitally, if you suspect that all is not as it should be, taking action immediately is essential. Moving fast is a must in response to these kinds of crimes, because time wasted can mean assets bleeding away. Similarly, any delay can allow perpetrators to quickly cover their tracks. If you require assistance in the launching of fast, discreet, and impactful workplace investigations, the corporate team here at Lauth Investigations International is ready to assist. Our seasoned and expert investigators can dive into digital investigations, surveil your suspect, secure and document evidence, and even go undercover if required to reveal the truth. From there, we can provide guidance on how to navigate legal obligations and negotiations and give expert testimony should litigation occur. Unlike law enforcement, our loyalty lies with our clients first—so reach out today and gain a true ally in the fight against white collar crime.
