The Nicest Guy In The Room

(Names have been changed to protect the guilty)

When we think of criminals we think we’d know one if we met one. But usually, this is not the case. How many times have you read, after someone has been arrested for even the most heinous crime, that so-and-so was such a nice guy no-one could have suspected him capable of welching on a parking ticket, let alone committing mass murder? “But he seemed like such a nice guy! It’s hard to believe he could have done something like this.” is the common refrain.

That’s the thing about criminals. We never suspect them. If we did, we’d be a lot more careful. But time after time the fraudster turns out to be the nicest guy in the room.

Take the case of Calvin Holmes (not his real name). Calvin applied for the job of financial manager at TravelMate, a mid-size travel firm and a subsidiary of a very well-known holding company. To secure the position Calvin needed a university degree and an honours degree and was asked at his interview to provide proof of both. Although he possessed neither, he was happy to oblige with the request

A few days later, the MD, who had conducted the interview and was making the appointment, received confirmation via an e-mail purporting to be from a respected university, confirming Calvin’s academic “credentials”, and he got the job as head of the firm’s finance department.

After just one month, using a fake email account that appeared to come from the MD, Calvin instructed the department to award him a nice increase. His salary went from $5,000 to $7,500 per month. But he didn’t stop there. Using this same method, his salary rocketed to $15,000 per month in just one year.

But of course, like all good fraudsters, Calvin couldn’t get enough, so he also received bonuses, all awarded by the “MD”, to a total $45,000! And it didn’t stop there.

Calvin convinced the MD to leave him with signed, blank cheques every month to “expedite payments” when she was away. He then paid these cheques against invoices generated by his own “company”. With this method, he increased his illicit earnings by $18,000 each month!

Calvin’s activities were finally uncovered when he used a company credit card on a trip to London. But this card was very rarely used, and, in fact, the MD had instructed Calvin to cancel it several months prior to his trip, which of course never happened. The bank queried the sudden large expenditure on the card with the MD. Calvin then attempted to alter a bank statement using his computer. But the books still didn’t add up and it was “game over” for the likeable fraudster.

The question you may be asking yourself is: “But how did he get away with it for so long - surely someone must have suspected something?”

The company’s employees worked in an atmosphere of fear, and hardly ever queried the MD’s instructions. Calvin ruled his own department the same way, but he also took the financial department people for lunches on Friday afternoons and socialised with them, always coming across as extremely likeable. The nicest guy in the room. And while everyone thought he was as honest as the day is long, they knew better than to question his judgment or his instructions.

Calvin was sentenced to four years in jail, and ordered to pay restitution to the company. The company had not suspected a thing. Had they conducted an expense review, Calvins expenses would have stood out. Using independent consultants to perform this type of review removes the potential that the person conducting the investigation will under state the findings due to a fear of retaliation.

If you believe your company could be doing better, you might just be right, and the poor performance may be the result of one individual. If you would like a free first consultation on the benefits of a forensic audit of expenses or the benefits of a fraud risk assessment please contact Forensic Restitution - www.forensicrestitution.com - Fraud hurts, we make it better!