Pub. 3 2013 Issue 3

9 The Scope of the Problem Embezzlement is a bigger problem for U.S. businesses than you might realize, and it can go on at a dealership, undetected, for a long time. Most companies that are vic- timized are small or medium sized, and they are usually privately held. Car dealerships are particularly vulner- able because the inventory is expensive, and it tends to move fast. If an organization has financial abuse, fraud, and waste, then embezzlement — a crime that is usually committed because of plain greed and the desire to live large — is usually going on as well. According to Christopher T. Marquet, the author of an annual report on embezzlement, recent years have been particularly bad, with 2010 seeing a 17 per- cent increase in embezzlement crime when compared to the year before. Marquet International, Ltd. was founded at the beginning of 2006 and specializes in financial investigations. The company publishes an annual embezzlement report that focuses on new cases where approximately $100,000 or more has been embezzled. The most recent study analyzed 485 specific cases and offered the following conclusions: • The average loss was almost $1 million. Q Employee Theft — continued on page 10 Employee Theft and Embezzlement