Things NOT to do if you suspect embezzlement in your office

Start asking unusual questions of staff

• Ask for reports you haven’t requested before

• Spend lots of time in your private office on the phone with your CPA

• Allow a couple of geeky looking people with briefcases to come to your office to look at stuff

• Implement additional security features in your software

• Start posting articles about embezzlement in other offices on your staff room bulletin board

• Run around flapping your wings like a chicken

If someone is embezzling from you, they are constantly looking for signs that they are about to get caught.  When a thief observes these signs, their thoughts turn to self-preservation, which includes things like destroying evidence.  “Evidence” for this purpose usually includes your practice’s financial and clinical records.

Unfortunately, many dentists have learned the hard way about the dangers resulting from alerting a suspect prematurely.