Cutting into White-Collar Crime: A $200 Billion a Year Business

By Gerry Adams

gerry@adams-pi.com

Crime! When most people think of crime they think of armed robbery, assault, and murder. But what about white-collar crimes; these crimes cost American businesses and taxpayers billions of dollars each year.

Each year American businesses lose an estimated $200 billion to white-collar crime, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Included in the list of white collar crimes are employee theft, embezzlement, fraud, and extortion.

One way businesses can help protect themselves against white-collar crime is to thoroughly screen prospective executive candidates before hiring them.

“An in-depth background check is worth its weight in gold,” said Gerry Adams, private investigator and principal of Gerald Adams, P.I., a Seattle private investigation agency. “Although a solid background check doesn’t guarantee a business its new employee won’t steal or embezzle, it cuts the odds drastically.”

During a typical background check our investigators thoroughly research the candidate’s personal, educational, and professional claims to make sure everything checks out, Adams said.

They also check criminal records and financial statements so clients can better decide whether a job candidate is trustworthy.

No matter how careful employers are about screening employees, they can never completely eliminate theft and embezzlement from the workplace, Adams said.

“If you think an individual, or individuals, in your company are stealing equipment, embezzling funds, or extorting secrets, I recommend contacting a private investigator specializing in corporate security and risk management,” Adams said. “The sooner you can get to the root of the problem the better.”

“Companies not taking immediate action could lose millions of dollars in lost goods and trade secrets,” said Jennifer Garrepy, an investigator employed by Gerry Adams. “Our methods of early detection have helped save clients millions of dollars.”

A Pacific Northwest company recently contacted Adams expressing concern that one of its top executives might be stealing company trade secrets. Adams investigated, and a few days later caught the individual transferring documents from company computers to personal discs.

It was later shown the individual had plans to start a new company with this information, Adams said. Our investigation may have saved this company from potential ruin.

Gerald Adams, P.I. is a full-service private investigation agency specializing in intellectual property infringements, fraud, embezzlement, internal theft, and executive protection.

The agency has been providing investigative services to many of the Pacific Northwest’s leading companies for over 30 years.