Your most trusted employee. Your right hand. However, something just doesn't feel right about your business. Could an employee be stealing from you? Certainly you're mistaken, right? After all, this person helped you grow your business, has full access to everything from passwords to bank statements. Sure, that gives your employee the opportunity, but he or she would never take advantage of it. We lock our cars and our houses to protect ourselves. What do you do to protect your business? This book is designed to help you prevent, detect, and investigate embezzlement. You will learn how opportunity, pressure, and rationalization are the basis for fraud. Kelly Paxton is a former federal agent who was used to dealing with "bad guys." Once she started working embezzlement cases, she quickly realized that honest people steal. So, arm yourself with her knowledge, insight, and tips on how to protect your future today. Here's what some experts in the field have to say about Embezzlement: How to Detect, Prevent, and Investigate Pink-Collar Crime: "A thoroughly enjoyable and accessible read -- chock full of stories that bring the subject of pink-collar crime to life. Kelly Paxton helps us understand that fraud happens in all aspects of our personal and professional lives. She opens our eyes to the realities of fraud and gives thoughtful tips to deal with it. A must-read for everyone -- whether you have seen or experienced fraud first-hand or not." --BETHMARA KESSLER-SPEAKER, Chair, ACFE Board of Regents "What a fantastic book by fraud-fighter Kelly Paxton! It's an easy read that combines interesting embezzlement stories, relevant fraud concepts, and excellent fraud prevention tips. Kelly's discussion of what constitutes pink-collar crime was enlightening. This is a must-read for any conscientious business owner looking for practical advice on reducing their exposure to employee fraud." --TRACY COENEN, Forensic Accountant "Fraud comes in many forms--from simple theft by swiping a few dollars from your mom's wallet to technically sophisticated, movie-ready Casino Royale-like scripts. The word "fraud" is so generic that one can find myriad applications, making seemingly everyone an expert in such a loosely defined field. In the past twenty years, I've seen FBI agents turned celebrity thanks to movies like Wolf on Wall Street alongside famed convicted hacker hoodlums, each professing to know and teach about fraud. Their backgrounds and experiences make them interesting, perhaps even sexy (if fraud could ever be considered sexy), but it doesn't make them well-rounded like Kelly Paxton. Paxton's dedication and earnest work on pink-collar crime dates back a decade. Her focus, experience, and resilience in professing, sharing, and training in this unique and often overlooked criminal activity stands alone. Embezzlement exemplifies real experiences, tactics, and investigative solutions for this least-suspecting yet growing criminal element representing nearly half of the total labor force: Women. Fraud examiners, investigators, and industry pros will be grabbing Embezzlement off the shelf and find it hard to put down." --CYNTHIA HETHERINGTON, President, Hetherington Group

"If you don't think that some employees have figured out ingenious ways to steal from businesses, read this book. The real-life examples will change your mind." Joseph T. Wells, CFE, CPA, founder and Chairman, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners "An easy-to-read, but comprehensive step-by-step approach that covers every potential area for employee fraud and embezzlement. Great checklists at the end of each chapter show what steps to put into place for controls and protection. Includes real-life examples that really 'bring the story home.' " Jean L. Conover, CPA, past CEO/CFO, Jefferson Radiology PC "This book is a must-read for seasoned entrepreneurs as well as those considering entering their own business venture. While developed for small business, the risk detection and prevention methodologies presented by Mr. Pedneault are universal to all businesses. The concise checklists provide ready guidance for establishing a complete system of controls." Denise H. Armstrong, CPA, Chief Financial Officer, Sea Research Foundation, Inc. d/b/a Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration "This book is a must for every individual owning their own business. Mr. Pedneault clearly articulates the fraud risks that occur in each business system. In the book, he offers practical advice for internal controls and illustrates the risks with real-life examples." Leonard W. Vona, President, Fraud Auditing, Inc.

Using recent research and case studies, this book offers an evidence-based insight into the embezzler’s mindset as they commit crimes that are costing nations, organisations and individuals increasingly more each year. This mindset is described in detail as the embezzler develops their motivation to steal from their employer, finds a method of stealing, assesses the risks, executes the theft, and then determines whether to continue to steal. The organisational landscape of security capabilities, culture and financial circumstances provide the environment that this mindset operates within. The embezzler’s approach to the crime is broken down into four stages: Pre-Existing Vulnerabilities, Induction to First Theft, Ongoing Theft and Detection to Resolution. The author recommends strategies based on the embezzler’s mindset for organisations to enhance their ability to protect themselves from such inside threats that attack their reputation, productivity, morale and, in the worst cases, financial viability.

IS YOUR BUSINESS VULNERABLE TO FRAUD? It's not a secret that corporate fraud and scandal are real threats to business today, from which no business, large or small, is immune. Fraud losses are devastating-but they are also highly avoidable. Policies & Procedures to Prevent Fraud and Embezzlement shows you how to proactively safeguard your business's assets and reputation from countless plots, schemes, and even identity theft. This invaluable tool prepares auditing CPAs, internal auditors, fraud investigators, and managers to: Thoroughly evaluate their organization's system of internal controls Assemble a fraud examination team Document a fraud action plan Expose weaknesses that could lead to fraud Take corrective action to reduce the possibility of victimization Embezzlement and fraud are realities that all organizations must confront, with the growing list of collapsed corporate giants serving as evidence of the destruction caused by financial abuses. Policies & Procedures to Prevent Fraud and Embezzlement offers provocative new strategies to deal with this ongoing dilemma and serves as a road map to reduce financial dishonesty in the workplace.

The explosive true story of fraud, embezzlement, and government betrayal. In 2000, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) carried out a secret mission to bury, skew, and manipulate data in six vaccine safety studies, in a coordinated effort to control the message that “vaccines do not cause autism.” They did so via secret meetings and backtesting health-care data. The CDC invested tens of millions of dollars in a foreign health-care data analytics startup run by Danish scientist Poul Thorsen, a move to ensure that no link ever surfaced. But fate had other ideas. The agency soon learned it couldn’t control Thorsen. In 2011, the US Justice Department indicted him for the theft of more than $1 million of CDC grant money. Master Manipulator exposes the CDC’s hidden agenda for the cover-up. Influenced by Big Pharma money, future high-paying jobs, and political lobbyists, CDC executives charted a course different than what the findings of earlier vaccine safety studies revealed. The CDC needed an outsider to “flatten” the results of the data, while building an exit strategy: a fall guy in case the secret plan was exposed. Thorsen fit the bill nicely, conducting studies overseas. But the CDC’s plan backfired, as Thorsen took the money to the bank and the power went to his head. It would take years for his fraud scheme—funneling CDC grant money to a Danish university and then back to a CDC bank account he controlled—to play out. Master Manipulator is a true story of fraud and betrayal, and an insider’s view of what takes place behind the closed doors of agencies and drug companies, and with the people tasked to protect the health of American children. It’s a cautionary tale of the dangers of blind trust in the government and the health-care industry.