[Richard iSparkle]

HI Guys,

I have been the victim of fraud and have involved the police. It has been committed by a former employee and there is clear evidence as it was done through the banks.

The thing is the police have known for 3 weeks and have done very little beyond taking my statement.  they need a statement off a customer but whilst it was booked to happen 3 weeks ago they have been held up apparently because the officer involved works evenings and has to deal with people in custody (i.e. drunks and fighters etc).

anybody on here have any experience with the police and how to get them to give this crime more urgency.  the fraud is ongoing by the way so will continue until the individual has been stopped!

any help very welcome 

[PoleKing]

Ongoing and you're still employing him?!

[Flash..]

Ongoing but it says it was a former employee

[PoleKing]

How is he still taking your money if he doesn't work for you?

[Jim Waugh(Albright & Shiny)]

This may come as a shock but frontline bobbies have no choice but investigate slowly..
They are allocated a crime to investigate it is theirs they are the investigating officer . They work shift so there is not a lot they will be able to do on nights or days off. this leaves days when're they can talk / deal with monday to friday ends such as banks etc. on a late shift they can talk to the people who work in their homes.. On top of this they have to respond to every call they are allocated to.. Oh and each individual cop is investigating in the region of 10 crimes at anyone time..

Add to this for fraud offences the disclosure legislation that has to be satisfied for the banks to release information  makes it even slower.

Once upon a time fraud was dealt with by CID officer she don't have the burden of Shifts and responding to road accidents etc. But most CID officers are now tied up dealing with sexual offences. and traditional CID work like fraud, burglary and the like falls to uniformed cops..
Then throw into the mix the government has cut their resources, and that directly translates into officer numbers by 20%..
What happens on the TV is not representative of British policing..  

I have to ask why are the bank not stopping transactions.. and if I recall there is a directive from the Home office that Banks are the prosecuting authority for fraud involving banks.. Not the police..
email me at windows@albrightandshiny.co.uk and Ill try and help you out best I can.. I know the system very well.

[Soupy]

Could be loads of ways..

Has your bank details..

Gave customers wrong bank details....

Tell us.

[Richard iSparkle]

Done by standing order and they changed the bank details on our paperwork.

Ongoing because the standing orders can't be stopped unless by the client, and we need the police to check the fraudsters bank account to find out what has been paid and what is still being paid

[PoleKing]

Done by standing order and they changed the bank details on our paperwork.

Ongoing because the standing orders can't be stopped unless by the client, and we need the police to check the fraudsters bank account to find out what has been paid and what is still being paid

That is tough, fella.
All the best with it.
Assume you've put in place procedures so it can't happen again...

[simon w]

Done by standing order and they changed the bank details on our paperwork.

Ongoing because the standing orders can't be stopped unless by the client, and we need the police to check the fraudsters bank account to find out what has been paid and what is still being paid

So the employee is cleaning one of your accounts but the fee via issued invoice is being paid into the employees account instead of yours?

Not sure about a fraud case, but the police would have a murder case on their hands if he was one of mine.

Good luck and I hope the scrote  gets his comeuppance

[Richard iSparkle]

Done by standing order and they changed the bank details on our paperwork.

Ongoing because the standing orders can't be stopped unless by the client, and we need the police to check the fraudsters bank account to find out what has been paid and what is still being paid

That is tough, fella.
All the best with it.
Assume you've put in place procedures so it can't happen again...

Direct debit now...  much easier to track and much easier to investigate.  also we can stop them if we need to at our end

But, as always if someone is in a position of trust, they can always find ways to abuse it.

Thanks tho   Every day is a lesson!

[Richard iSparkle]

Done by standing order and they changed the bank details on our paperwork.

Ongoing because the standing orders can't be stopped unless by the client, and we need the police to check the fraudsters bank account to find out what has been paid and what is still being paid

So the employee is cleaning one of your accounts but the fee via issued invoice is being paid into the employees account instead of yours?

Not sure about a fraud case, but the police would have a murder case on their hands if he was one of mine.

Good luck and I hope the scrote  gets his comeuppance

It's actually from my domestic cleaning business where clients pay us a management fee by monthly standing order.  so the staff member set up a new client, arrange a cleaner to go weekly (who gets paid directly), and hid the file.  staff member was only person handling this business so easy for her to hide, and she did the monthly payment audit, so was able to hide it.

strong case for getting an independent auditor in every year!

[MATT BATEMAN (OWC)]

strong case for getting an independent auditor in every year!

Strong case for paying your staff well by the sounds of it.

[Richard iSparkle]

they were well paid Matt.  very well in fact

[MATT BATEMAN (OWC)]

Well? paid.

[davids3511]

strong case for getting an independent auditor in every year!

Strong case for paying your staff well by the sounds of it.

Of course, if your low paid the next obvious step is to steal from your employer. Stands to reason.

[MATT BATEMAN (OWC)]

 


I used to do that and shag his wife. Least I got a bonus come christmas.

[Becci Swan]

Done by standing order and they changed the bank details on our paperwork.

Ongoing because the standing orders can't be stopped unless by the client, and we need the police to check the fraudsters bank account to find out what has been paid and what is still being paid

Hi Richard

Are you not able to see from your bank records which customers you haven't been receiving payments from and then write to them saying that they need to amend the bank details on the standing order?
This would at least stop you losing any further money whilst the police take their time.

Kind regards, Becci

[Richard iSparkle]

Hi becci,

the ones we know about we have contacted.

it was going on for over 2 yrs that we know about, and there seem to be customers who were hidden from the DB completely.

some of these will have finished their contract and others we just wont know about unless they contact us for some reason.

some are suspicious but we are struggling to get hold of them as ex customers dont seem to be too interested in speaking to us...  of course if we mentioned fraud they would...  but we dont want to do that so we're a bit stuck 

[Becci Swan]

Hi becci,

the ones we know about we have contacted.

it was going on for over 2 yrs that we know about, and there seem to be customers who were hidden from the DB completely.

some of these will have finished their contract and others we just wont know about unless they contact us for some reason.

some are suspicious but we are struggling to get hold of them as ex customers dont seem to be too interested in speaking to us...  of course if we mentioned fraud they would...  but we dont want to do that so we're a bit stuck  

I agree, its not a good idea to mention fraud to your customers as this could cause them to be cautious about working with you in the future.

I don't mean to sound rude in asking - but if they aren't on your database then why are their windows still being cleaned? Surely they would just be missed off your round as said employee is no longer at your company?

[Richard iSparkle]

Hi becci,

the ones we know about we have contacted.

it was going on for over 2 yrs that we know about, and there seem to be customers who were hidden from the DB completely.

some of these will have finished their contract and others we just wont know about unless they contact us for some reason.

some are suspicious but we are struggling to get hold of them as ex customers dont seem to be too interested in speaking to us...  of course if we mentioned fraud they would...  but we dont want to do that so we're a bit stuck  

I agree, its not a good idea to mention fraud to your customers as this could cause them to be cautious about working with you in the future.

I don't mean to sound rude in asking - but if they aren't on your database then why are their windows still being cleaned? Surely they would just be missed off your round as said employee is no longer at your company?

good question..

It's actually from my domestic cleaning business where clients pay us a management fee by monthly standing order.  so the staff member set up a new client, arrange a cleaner to go weekly (who gets paid directly), and hid the file.  staff member was only person handling this business so easy for her to hide, and she did the monthly payment audit, so was able to hide it.

it couldnt happen in the same way with my WC clients