Secretary stole from us - oh woe is we

My dad worked in an office that consisted of him and his secretary. His secretary handled all financial stuff (paying bills, collecting money from tenants) for the office and the home. Recently, he moved his office to an apartment he spiffed up, and she refused to work there (she lives in the 'burbs, the office-cum-apartment is in the city). So, she no longer works for him. This was about two months ago.

As if we didn’t have enough money problems (part of the reason why my dad moved his office), over the past few days, we have realized that since leaving her job she has fraudulently used bank accounts and credit cards (belonging to my dad business and belonging to individual family members) for her own expenses. My father, who often works overseas and now is at home, is going through the complicated muddle of cancelling or closing bank accounts and cards while informing the affected financial institutions of fraudulent activity. From what he says, it will be close to impossible to get the money back.

  1. How do we get the money back? She took a few thousand dollars, if not more.

  2. How can we avoid a repeat of this?

  3. What outcome can we expect if charges are pressed or police action is taken or whatnot?

WRS - Oh, what the world has come to. Oh, wait. It was like this all the time.

IANAL or an accountant or anything else remotely helpful here.

Was the secretary bonded? When I had to write checks for an organization, I had a dishonesty bond just for this situation. If she was bonded, the insurance company would pay. It would then make vigorous attempts to recover from the secretary but that wouldn’t be your problem.

If no bond, I would suggest you press charges. Theft is theft. Maybe small claims court would be an option. If we are talking thousands of dollars, I’d consult a lawyer ASAP.

You’ll probably need a forensic accountant to straighten this out and determine how much is missing either way.