It took 18 months, but my friend who was defrauded by her bookkeeper finally had her day in court. While it felt good to to get to that point, the outcome wasn’t nearly as satisfying as we had hoped.
To begin with, the case never went to trial. The lawyers negotiated a settlement at the last minute. Rather than jail time, she ended up with house arrest which is not like we see in the movies – she’s free to leave the house all day and is still meant to be working. Chances are, it’s only a matter of time before she lands on some other poor, unsuspecting small business that doesn’t do a criminal background check.
The bottom line is do a background check on any employee you hire, especially one entrusted with financial information and protect your business from bookkeeper fraud by implementing proper controls.
