Fraud: Hiding in plain sight

The General Optical Council (GOC) publishes the results of the disciplinary hearings it holds, and some make for interesting reading. One particular substantive hearing, held in September 2022, involved a registrant who, on multiple occasions took money from her employer by, for example, removing cash from the till drawer or by processing false refund transactions to her personal account. The dishonesty was proven and the only suitable response was erasure from the register.

Her activity is surprisingly common. A page on thecircularboard.com details 22 Eye-Opening Employee Theft Statistics in the Workplace, which should cause concern. Statistics reveal employee theft costs UK businesses around £190m every year; it usually takes around 14 months before a fraud case is discovered; 22% of retail shrinkage is due to employee theft; and 43% of fraud schemes are detected by a tip.