How Much?

Recently I was asked how much of embezzlement gets the attention of law enforcement. I can’t say for sure because as attorneys say all the time “It depends.”

But just recently I had an attendee who thought that their non-profit didn’t have enough money to steal. It turns out $30k was enough for that pink collar criminal.

Robyn Shaw was on the Fraud Not Frog podcast talking about a very special case. The amount stolen was only $900. But to that victim it was everything. She had saved in order to have a shed built for her animal. The perpetrator took her money.

While many big dollar cases make the news it is the “smaller” cases that can have the biggest effect. Embezzlement is always so much more than the money. But when you only have a small amount of money and that is taken, it hurts even more.

Some perpetrators also know that smaller cases won’t get the attention of law enforcement. They become serial embezzlers. One of my first cases was a grifter who took just a few hundred dollars each from many local businesses. Combined it added up but I am sure there were victims we did not know about.

What is $1 million to one business may be the $900 to the service worker who saved for her animal.

Thank you Robyn for your dedication.
#itmatters