Prosperident Pulse #50 -- October 2016
| In This Issue: Ten things you might not know Upcoming Speaking Dates A note from our CEO Hear Us Speak! Oct 13 Sunset Study Club, Portland OR Oct 15 Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists, Palm Springs CA Oct 21 Argyle Group, Ottawa ON Oct 22 Alberta Society of Dental Specialists, Edmonton, AB Oct 28 Spectrum Day, Toronto ON Nov 4 New Castle Dental Study Club, Wilmington DE Nov 4 PEAK Education, Novi MI Nov 10 Carestream Global Oral Health Summit, Las Vegas NV Nov 16 Harbor Dental Society, Lakeside CA Dec 5 Queens County Dental Society, Jamaica NY 2017 Jan 11 ITI Study Club, Delray Beach FL Jan 19 St Helens Shadow Study Club, Vancouver WA Jan 26 topsOrtho topsFest, Newport Beach CA Jan 28 Manitoba Dental Association, Winnipeg MB Feb 3 Newport Harbor Academy of Dentistry, Newport Beach CA Feb 23 Ortho2 UGM Anaheim CA Feb 24 Chicago Midwinter Meeting, Chicago IL Mar 3 Dolphin Management User Meeting, Nashville TN Mar 9 Greater Philadelphia Valley Forge Dental Society, Philadelphia PA Mar 10 Pacific Dental Conference, Vancouver BC Mar 17 Dr. Michelle Haddad Memorial Scholarship Lecture New Hartford, NY) Mar 21 Greater Woonsocket District Dental Society, Providence RI April 7 UCSF Alumni, San Francisco CA Apr 28 Keely Dental Society, Hamilton OH May 4 Texas Dental Meeting, San Antonio TX Our most-requested presentation is called "How To Steal From A Dentist." To book us for your meeting or study club, click here or call us at 888-398-2327. Probability of you being embezzled in your career -60% Probability that you will regret deleting this newsletter if that happens -100% Did you miss a previous newsletter? We archive them here. Ten Things You Might Not Know About Prosperident Sometimes we make the mistake of assuming that everyone knows who we are and what we do. Here are some things you might not know. 1. The company was founded in 1989, by David Harris. 2. David got drawn into the dental embezzlement world by accident. Once he found himself there, his investigative skills and amazing ability to think like a criminal quickly established him as the "top gun" of embezzlement investigation for dentists. 3. Prosperident only assists dentists. We do not investigate in other businesses, nor do we work for dental insurance companies, the IRS, etc. 4. We work with all dental specialties and have specialized groups to deal with embezzlement in oral surgery and orthodontic practices. Our Special Investigations" group deals with some of our more unusual cases. 5. Our dozen investigators all had extensive dental backgrounds before they started training to be Prosperident fraud examiners. Half have completed their Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) designation, which is the "gold standard" of fraud examination. 6. Our examinations are completely stealthy -- no one but you will know that we are involved. Also, normally our investigations are done remotely and without a (probably conspicuous) visit to your office. 7. We do a lot of speaking, and five members of our team are accomplished speakers. In a typical year, we do 60 or more speaking engagements -- everything from big meetings like the Hinman and Chicago Midwinter to local study clubs. 8. We offer three products -- Diagnostic Examination(for when a dentist wants to know if he or she is being embezzled), Forensic Investigation (for when embezzlement has been confirmed), and Owner Proactive Strategies, which is a preventative product designed to minimize the probability and impact of future embezzlement. 9. The most popular section of our website is the Hall of Shame, where we profile over 350 embezzlers. It's a great place to look before hiring someone -- check it out here. 10. Our boss, David Harris, is pretty camera-shy. He has only allowed himself to be recorded while presenting once. You can see it here. I have embezzled over $30,000. What should I do?  There is a website called www.justanswer.com, where people can ask questions of subject area experts. One question that was asked came from someone who said that she had embezzled $30,000 from the dentist for whom she worked, and she was asking an attorney what to do. It's an interesting exchange, particularly where she reveals her reasons for embezzling, and that when she had confessed to her doctor, she admitted to stealing just 3% of what she actually took. You can read the exchange here. A Note From Our CEO Something I often get asked is whether more embezzlement takes place when the economy is in trouble. The answer isn’t a totally simple one, but it does show something interesting about embezzlers, so it is one that I am always happy to address. An economic downturn puts some people in a financial bind; spouses may lose their jobs, investments devalue, and falling housing prices cause homes to be "underwater" or can even make it difficult to obtain mortgage financing. All of these things exert sufficient financial pressure to cause a small minority of the population to steal. We refer to this group as “Needy” thieves, and economic conditions certainly increase their numbers. However, we shouldn’t forget that there is another cohort, which we label as “Greedy”. Unlike the Needy, these people aren’t stealing to survive — they are stealing to purchase luxury items that they feel that they “deserve” but can’t afford on the salary you pay them. We’ve watched these people purchase everything from $150,000 automobiles to boats to lavishing expensive gifts on their friends. Members of this group believe that society (and in particular their employer) underappreciate their talents and value. Stealing is their way of addressing this perceived inequity and tacitly demonstrating how smart they are. I’ll mention two things about this group — they seem to be much larger than the Needy — approximately 80% of the embezzlement we find involves Greedy thieves. Second, the “lifestyle gap” that they perceive widens in a booming economy — they see others “getting ahead” faster than they are, and this motivates them to embezzle. So, contrary to what you may have thought, we see more embezzlement in a recovering economy than one in a downturn, but it involves a different group of embezzlers.  David Harris CPA, CMA, MBA, CFE, CFF Chief Executive Officer Prosperident -- the world's largest dental embezzlement investigation firm 888-398-2327 Visit our website -- www.prosperident.com |