Expense and Working Time Fraud

Businesses in central Germany are not only threatened by fraudulent acts committed by outsiders, but in many cases their own employees are the perpetrators. In particular, working time and expense fraud rank among the most common types of offences.

The experienced commercial investigators of Kurtz Investigations Halle and Saxony-Anhalt possess the necessary expertise, experience and equipment to resolve these cases in a manner admissible in court: +49 345 2194 0000.

Working Time Fraud: Excesses and Consequences

Committing accounting fraud is easy in many professions. Field staff in particular enjoy a degree of trust from their employers, who must rely on their employees to meet their contractual obligations correctly when working away from the company and therefore beyond the control of a supervisor. Since opportunity not only makes thieves but also fraudsters, this trust is exploited with great frequency by documenting more working hours than were actually performed. Typical perpetrator groups include customer service employees, construction workers or tradespeople.

1. Example: False Accounting towards the Employer

For instance, one hour of consultation time may be recorded per customer visit, even though the customer left after just fifteen minutes and the employee spent the remainder of the time idling.

Less work-shy and more pragmatic employees do not merely waste time but try to complete their list of customer visits as quickly as possible so they can finish work early and perhaps even take on a second job. To achieve this, the hour list is manipulated and suddenly, instead of spending two hours on eight customers, they supposedly spent eight, nine or ten. As a result, the employer pays for a service that was at best delivered in part and certainly not to the required standard, since hectic, curt consultations will inevitably alienate customers.

2. Example: False Accounting towards the Customer

The situation is equally damaging when, for example, a car mechanic tasked with repairing a vehicle needs one hour for the job but enters two hours on the work log. Apart from the question of what the employee did with the rest of the time, this behaviour puts the employer in serious trouble. If the fraud is first noticed by the customer rather than by management, it reflects extremely poorly on the company. The disadvantaged customer will not only refuse to pay the invoice and choose another garage in the future but will also very likely tell others about their experience. In this way, the reputation of an otherwise reputable company can quickly plummet.

To prevent such damage and to expose offending employees, professional support from our IHK-certified commercial investigators in Halle/Saale is required in cases of suspicion. Through surveillance and legend-based interviews with customers, we collect evidence that we document in an investigation report admissible in court. This report in turn provides our clients with a strong basis for asserting their interests in or out of court. We are happy to take on your case – please send us an email at kontakt@detektei-kurtz.de or contact us by telephone at the number provided above for a non-binding initial consultation.

Expense Fraud: Private Purchases at the Employer’s Expense

Many employees who have access to an expense account or are able to claim expenses from their employer behave with similar dishonesty. A preferred “tool” is the company vehicle, used not only to charge fuel but in some cases even to bill repairs of their private vehicle. Expense fraudsters apply the same principle to postage, hospitality and hotel costs, knowing that few employers will take the trouble to verify whether they are dining with clients or with friends, or whether the supposed business trip is in fact a wellness weekend. But these offenders have not reckoned with our qualified investigators from Halle:

We discreetly observe the employee in question and, where required, also carry out cross-border operations with the help of reliable foreign colleagues belonging to our global cooperation network. This network allows us to act promptly and efficiently not only in central Germany but in most European countries and many others worldwide, helping to avoid unnecessary additional costs. We are happy to inform you about our fees for domestic and international assignments. Please use our contact form for your enquiry or call our commercial investigation agency in Halle an der Saale: +49 345 2194 0000.