Embezzlement of Company Property

Embezzlement of company property by employees refers to the unlawful appropriation of items or assets (primarily cash) that were entrusted to the perpetrator for the performance of their duties. Embezzlement occurs across all sectors and professional groups: the construction worker who “adopts” company tools into his private stock and reports them to the employer as stolen; the home-office employee who squanders his equipment and material allowance for private purposes; the dismissed field representative who refuses to return his company car and actively hides it from the employer – or even unlawfully sells the vehicle and keeps the proceeds. The list could go on indefinitely.

If an employee is suspected of embezzlement (Art. 138 SCC), the facts must be fully clarified and the individual must be proven guilty with court-usable evidence. Our Zurich commercial investigation agency supports you with extensive experience in employee examinations: +41 44 5522 264.

High Responsibility, Extensive Powers – High Risk

Disloyal workplace behaviour is not limited to lower income groups, nor only to employees who have recently joined the company. Time and again, our Swiss corporate investigators expose long-standing employees for embezzlement, theft, or fraud; often the perpetrators hold positions of significant responsibility. Where employees enjoy the unrestricted trust of the employer and may even have access to company accounts, the risk of embezzlement is considerably higher, as the thresholds to commit such offences are lower. For instance, an employee working in accounting will find it noticeably easier to transfer funds to personal accounts and destroy or manipulate the evidence than a worker on an assembly line. To obscure the offence, a self-employed friend or relative may be recruited as an accomplice to issue an invoice for supposedly provided services – or to bill excessive sums for genuine services. After the transaction, the accomplice pays out the embezzling employee. The larger the affected company, the lower the likelihood that such schemes will be detected quickly.

Embezzlement rarely occurs as a single incident. Once the crime succeeds unnoticed, repeat offences typically follow – usually with increasing damage. For example, the Zurich-based ABB AG learned this the hard way when one of its managers successively embezzled around 100 million dollars (see report in the Tagesanzeiger). For the court-ready documentation of such cases in the form of an investigative report and accompanying evidence file, rely on the expert commercial investigators of Kurtz Investigations Zurich and Switzerland. Please use our contact form for your enquiry or call us without obligation.

Embezzlement by Field Staff | Illegal Sale of Embezzled Materials

As with cases of working-hours fraud and expenses abuse, field staff are in a kind of “pole position” when it comes to embezzlement, as the execution of their duties relies heavily on trust between employer and employee – trust that is all too often shamelessly exploited. Examples include: the vacuum-cleaner salesperson who declares intact devices and original, sealed accessories as wear-and-tear demonstration materials and pockets them; or the charity collector who forwards only every second donated item or cash contribution to the employing organisation. When the embezzled items are subsequently sold – in the case of vehicles often broken down into individual parts – it becomes virtually impossible for laypersons to prove the offence(s) and recover the property.

Our experienced Swiss commercial investigators know both the tricks employed by offenders and the typical marketplaces where stolen goods are sold. The most suitable investigative methods vary depending on the specifics of each case, and we draw upon a wide range of techniques. In addition to the classic investigative tool of surveillance, monitoring known fencing markets is often appropriate. Whether consumer goods or monetary assets have been stolen, and whether they remain in Switzerland or are already abroad, our private investigators identify and apprehend the perpetrators through targeted investigation and detailed documentation of events. In case of need, send us an email at kontakt@kurtz-detektei-schweiz.ch or call us at +41 44 5522 264.