There has been a spate of employee fraud and embezzlement cases in recent months. The latest one concerns prominent Melbourne signage and outdoor company Civic Outdoor and its parent Civic Signs Pty Ltd. The Herald Sun reports that Leanne Quinn, a former National Sales Manager with Civic Outdoor faces 249 charges of theft.
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| A Civic Outdoor pylon billboard in Melbourne |
Employee theft is a heinous crime. It destroys trust and disadvantages honest employees when a company finds it has lost big sums of money. In this almost cashless era, it's far more sophisticated than 'fingers in the till' and can involve false invoices, kickbacks to associates or family members, 'foreign' unauthorised jobs and other forms of chanelling a company's revenues into accounts that benefit the perpetrators.
Secret commissions, equipment that is sold at uncommercial prices to related parties and then re-sold and even syphoning off scrap aluminium from printing plates or recovered silver from film and chemistry - forensic accountants have seen all manner of elaborate schemes to defraud employers when the sums don't quite add up.
We recently reported on the liquidator of Sydney firm RollerPoster, who rorted large sums from this and other companies in an elaborate deception. Our fellow trade publisher Print21 reported on, of all things, a rort by the General Manager of Surf Life Saving NSW, Matthew Hanks, fraudulently chanelling $1.84 million into his own accounts and spending up bigtime.
Now another case has emerged with the former National Sales Manager of Civic Outdoor (Civic Signs Pty Ltd) appearing before Melbourne Magistrate's Court charged with 249 instances of theft totalling over $200,000.
A Herald Sun Court reporter filed:
"A former Melbourne-based national manager of an iconic Australian sign company has been accused of pulling off a $200,000 rort.
Leanne Quinn fronted Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with 249 theft offences.
It’s alleged Quinn rorted more than $203,000 from her former employer Civic Signs Pty Ltd (Billboard Agency Civic Outdoor) between November 2016 and August 2019. Quinn, the former Civic Signs national sales manager, allegedly stole $50,864 in one hit. Police allege Quinn made a further 248 bogus transactions ranging from $100 to $15,950.
Quinn is no longer employed by the company which trades as Civic Outdoor. The billboard agency, which specialises in outdoor billboards including digital signs, operates in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and the ACT.
Quinn will face court at a later date. (to be advised)
NB: Melbourne's Civic Signs/Civic Outdoor is not connected with Queensland's Civic Media
If anyone out there is tempted to try this sort of crime - DON'T - forensic accounting is better than it's ever been and money trails are easier to follow in this digital era. Apart from that, think of your family, fellow employees and the employer who puts trust in you.
