Cash Register Fraud | Embezzlement

Embezzlement at the Cash Register: Test Purchases by Aaden Detectives Frankfurt (Case Example)

The detectives of Aaden Commercial Detective Agency Frankfurt expose an employee of cash register fraud and embezzlement through test purchases.

Cash Sales without Receipts?

A company that manufactures and distributes specialty products for industrial and DIY needs sought the support of Aaden Commercial Detective Agency Frankfurt, as one of the employees in the warehouse/store was suspected of selling products for cash without issuing receipts and pocketing the money. The suspicion our Frankfurt detectives were to investigate was therefore embezzlement and fraud.

Significant Revenue Deficit for the Target Person

Mr. M. had been working for the clients of Aaden Detectives Frankfurt for about a year, alternating shifts with another worker. The store was not permanently staffed, as both employees regularly had to make deliveries. It did not take long before it became apparent that during Mr. M.’s working hours, significantly lower revenues were consistently generated than during the shifts of his colleague. This could not be attributed to different working hours, as these had become nearly identical after a few months. Consequently, the clients of Aaden Detective Agency Frankfurt concluded that Mr. M. was either taking excessive breaks and was unavailable to customers or was diverting money into his own pocket.

Laziness or Cash Theft?

Through random phone calls and personal visits, the employer checked whether the suspected employee was performing his duties at the correct times. In addition to a consistently accurate time card, Mr. M. was always either reachable in the store or via mobile phone in the delivery van (engine noises made the field activity appear plausible). The clients of our commercial detectives in Frankfurt concluded that Mr. M.’s working hours were properly fulfilled and that he must therefore be embezzling money, as there was no other explanation for the cash discrepancies. Test purchases by the Frankfurt private detectives of Aaden were now intended to provide certainty.

Test Purchase: Why Use a Detective?

The procedure for such a test purchase conducted by detectives is relatively simple: the investigator enters the store, receives advice, buys something (possibly under a cover identity), pays in cash, observes whether a receipt is issued, and watches whether the cash is placed in the register or elsewhere. So why hire a detective for such a simple task? Couldn’t a friend or relative do it? No, they could not. The results of a test purchase are fundamentally based on witness testimony. Private investigators like the detectives of Aaden Detective Agency Frankfurt are neutral witnesses with no personal relationship to their clients. For this reason, their statements are far more credible in court than those of a friend or relative.

Test Purchases by Aaden Detectives Frankfurt

In this case, our Frankfurt detective proceeded exactly according to this method. The target person asked whether a receipt was needed, which the investigator confirmed, stating that the order was for his boss. Normally, however, he purchased items for personal use. The employee properly placed the cash in the register. However, the mere act of asking whether a receipt was required was already improper, as company policy stipulates that every customer must automatically be issued a receipt without being asked. If the customer does not want it, they can simply leave it behind.

This initial test purchase by Aaden Detective Agency Frankfurt was intended to determine whether the employee complied with internal policies. In addition, the commercial investigator aimed to build trust with the target person in order to conduct another test purchase “for personal use” a few days later. This time, our Frankfurt private detective did not request a receipt and was able to observe how the money was placed next to the register. Mr. M. even offered the investigator a discount for paying without a receipt.

Sales Not Recorded in Accounting

These test purchases by Aaden Commercial Detective Agency Frankfurt were repeated three more times over a period of four weeks: once again by the same detective and the other times by different operatives in order to provide multiple witnesses. The result was always the same: the target person asked whether a receipt should be issued, and since this was always declined, the cash was not placed in the register but set aside. The approach of the target person when “sounding out” buyers varied. Mr. M. often did not directly ask whether a receipt was needed, but approached the topic indirectly by asking, for example, which company the invoice should be issued to. The response that no invoice was needed because the items were for personal use was clearly to his liking.

In the following month, the client company was able to check in its accounting records whether the test purchases for which no receipts had been issued had been recorded. The result was negative, as expected, thereby conclusively proving the embezzlement.