No business is a stranger to theft, and in a restaurant there are many ways owners and operators can be defrauded. Sometimes it’s petty, other times the theft implicates significant losses. They key is to be aware of its potential and try to arm yourself and your staff with the knowledge to recognize theft in the workplace when it occurs.
One kind of theft that has the potential to cripple a business is insurance fraud. As VP of fraud investigations for EMPLOYERS, a Reno, Nev.-based company that provides workers' compensation insurance for small businesses, Ranney Pageler has seen it happen time and again. She cites examples like “injuries” that occur first thing Monday morning or late Friday afternoon, but are not reported when they should be, employees whose medical or legal providers have a history of handling suspicious claims and claimants who refuse treatment for their injuries or who are difficult to reach.
A case that stands out in his mind for its egregiousness involved the Madrona Manor Wine Country Inn & Restaurant in Napa Valley,Calif., and its handyman, Francisco Lemus Guzman. “We had an individual who in 2005 was being discharged for not following the rules and for his poor work habits,” Pageler recalls. “At the time he was discharged he claimed to have hurt himself previously but he refused medical treatment.”
The claim was investigated and Pageler and his team learned that Guzman had offered to pay three other employees to be witnesses to a fictitious accident. The case was referred to the Sonoma County District Attorney's office and though it took six years to apprehend Guzman, he ultimately confessed that his claim had been fraudulent.
Click here to read the full story that ran in the February issue of SeaFood Business >
