my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Ground Level   » Catching An Embezzling Manager (Page 1)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Author Topic: Catching An Embezzling Manager Edward Jurich Master Film Handler Posts: 305 From: Las Vegas USA Registered: Jul 2003 posted 10-03-2004 08:43 PM                     Imagine a single screen theater owned by one individual with a low profit margin. Now add a manager that's embezzling every cent they can. This just happened here. After a record box office with "Passion" and good numbers on a few other films, the owner found out that the theater was $19,500 in the red since Jan 1. The owner has suspected the manager might be taking money but wasn't sure. So about a month ago we installed security cameras and I almost fell over, the first day of taping caught the manager putting money in his pocket while counting. The second day caught him putting money into his back pack. Third day same thing. Now the task of looking for shortages finds the manager is destroying records including not saving stubs. We watch and document every day and find he's taking both box office and concession at about $350 - $500 a week. We stop the concession stealing by doing complete inventories and he realized we were finding shortages but kept taking box office. We kept counting (on tape) box office and when he reached $620 documented, now a felony, he was arrested and left the theater in handcuffs. We've audited and found June, July & August $8,500 short. Since he was escorted out in handcuffs his stuff was left behind. Luck included a bank statement in his stuff for July and August showing large deposits far more than he makes and verify the shortage for those months. This guy almost caused the owner to close the theater and was a lesson to keep tabs on what's going on.  |  IP: Logged Jason Black Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1723 From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 10-03-2004 09:12 PM                        Yet another example of an owner too far outside his business. :frown: A rooster in the henhouse always results in someone or something getting screwed. Hopefully for the owner, theatre, staff and patrons, this will allow those responsible to freshen up a bit on what is happening inside their operation. Hopefully, the theif will be made an example of so that those who follow think twice about any wrongdoing.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-03-2004 11:00 PM                     I have seen this happen several times to different customers and to the tune of over 20K each time it happened. After these customers realized it was happening they installed pinhole security cameras at each sales station and it was caught on video tape each time. All parties caught were confronted and were prosecuted. One remains in prison to this day. The other two were juveniles and their parents made restitution to each theatre involved. Mark  |  IP: Logged Brad Allen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 688 From: Evansville, IN, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 10-04-2004 12:10 AM                     At the very least, each and every absentee theatre owner should use their own checkers. Someone the staff doesn't know should go in, buy a ticket, and count heads on a regular basis. Just like the film co's do. Your asking for it if you don't. When it comes to money, you can't be too trusting. My first job as a theatre manager, I was quickly suspicious of what the owner had bragged as his best employee. In my first two weeks, I fired this "wonderful" 3 yr employee for theft of cash. He was double selling tickets. No wonder he was always so willing to work anytime he was needed!  |  IP: Logged Ken Layton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1452 From: Olympia, Wash. USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 10-04-2004 11:01 AM                     It's a sad fact of life in the theater business, but it does happen when the cat's away the mice will play. Video cameras should be standard at all theaters, IMO.  |  IP: Logged Don Anderson Master Film Handler Posts: 312 From: West Bend, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-04-2004 01:46 PM                     I had a concession worker do the same thing. Funny thing, his friend turned him in. I placed a b/w wireless camera behind a Pepsi clock, and caught him in the act. He was escorted to the police station via a squad car. Confessed to stealing 600 bucks in one month. We never recouped a cent from his arrest. To this day his is still friends with his buddy that squealed on him, not knowing that he turned him in. Funny thing, I don't know his friend from adam, he didn't want to see him end up in jail. He was using the money to by drugs.  |  IP: Logged Dominic Espinosa Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1172 From: Boulder Creek, CA. Registered: Jan 2004 posted 10-04-2004 03:09 PM                     We should all be so lucky to have friends like that. The trouble with video cameras is when there's no one around to check them, i.e. with large chains where D.M's and corporate management only come down on scheduled visits and trips. Most Wallace theaters don't even have door alarms let alone security cameras. The whole concept is dead if you can't rely on the on-site management to do their job and take pride in it.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-04-2004 06:34 PM                     The embezzling stuff really gets me pissed. Even though it takes people to monitor video surveillance cameras, I see a day in the not too distant future where every damned office cubicle has a couple wireless Internet-based video cameras looking over your shoulder making sure you're not goofing off any at your job. That will all be thanks to those crooked assholes who steal on the job.  |  IP: Logged Edward Jurich Master Film Handler Posts: 305 From: Las Vegas USA Registered: Jul 2003 posted 10-05-2004 09:25 AM                     The cameras need to be recording so you can go back and check, and use for proof in court. The owner here plans on suing in civil court, so far we've audited $9,000 missing back to June. We suspect that after we audit to Jan we could be looking at something near $30,000. The arrest is OK and the fact that the detective caught him in the act of stealing, filing a false box office report, will be good. But this is a first offense and around here it's a slap on the hand. However, civil court will be another matter.  |  IP: Logged R. Andrew Diercks Expert Film Handler Posts: 232 From: Marion, Iowa (In the middle of everywhere) Registered: May 2003 posted 10-05-2004 02:06 PM                     The problem with catching managers is the difficulty in keeping the location of cameras a secret. They can easily take money while transfering it from the safe to registers or vice versa. I would love to have cameras on concession to watch the concessionists. Might even be a good tool to see who is the most efficient. quote: Bobby Henderson I see a day in the not too distant future where every damned office cubicle has a couple wireless Internet-based video cameras looking over your shoulder making sure you're not goofing off any at your job. I could see this happening too. I guess my opinion of that is if you can't trust your manager's to do the right thing at work, why are you allowing them to run a multi-million dollar facility in the first place. I wonder how easily a company would keep help if they used this technology.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-05-2004 02:20 PM                  quote: Ken Layton It's a sad fact of life in the theater business, but it does happen when the cat's away the mice will play. Hot Tip, Ken: It happens in ALL businesses! Sad, but true. >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-05-2004 11:19 PM                     One day I was in the office (safe room) with the regional manager of my company. They had just completed closing the day's books and counting the receipts. He said to me, "That's an awful lot of money sitting right there! Wouldn't you be tempted to take it?" I repleied, "How much is there? $10,000?" He told me the actual count which was much higher." When I told him that wasn't enough money to get me interested he was puzzled why I said that. I said that no matter how "smart" I think I am in figuring out ways to steal money, eventually the company will figure it out and come looking for me. If I was to even THINK about stealing it would have to be MUCH higher than that! A mere $50,000 isn't enough! When asked how much it would take to make me think about stealing I told him, "Oh, a couple-three million..." His reply was, "Then I could trust you with money as long as it was less than $3,000,000? Why is that?" I told him that was enough money for me to live on while I laid low in some other country waiting for the "heat" to blow over. He still had a quizzical look. I explained: No matter how ingenious I think I am when I try to steal, somebody will eventually figure it out and I'll be caught. The only REAL way to steal from the company would be for me (or the hypothetical person) to pick up as much money as he could possibly carry, head out the back door and hop on a plane to Mexico... Never to be seen again. The amount of money it takes to uproot one's entire life and live in another country for several years... decades... or even the rest of your life... until the statute of limitaions runs out is the MINIMUM amount it would take to get me to even THINK about taking money. Besides, there's FAR more advantage in being a trustworthy person in the company's eyes. People who can handle large amounts of money without fear of "giving in to weakness" will likely earn much more money because of inreased pay (over their lifetime) than they could ever hope to get by stealing. So, Boss, you see, it's more than just a simple question of honesty. Honesty is important! But, if you think about it, any reasonably intelligent person should be able to see that it's just not worth it to steal! I never had any more questions about being around lots of money from THAT boss! Long story short: People who steal from the company aren't very smart. If they thought about it for a minute they would realize how stupid they are!  |  IP: Logged Jim Ziegler Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 753 From: West Hollywood, CA Registered: Jul 99 posted 10-07-2004 01:53 PM                     I had 20 of those webcam things at my last theatre (this was the only theatre in the company that had them)... If a manager stopped to write a memo duringthe afternoon, I got a call from the home office that my managers we hanging out in the office. If my box office employee started doing homework, I got a call from the home office. If I was doing bookings on Monday afternoon, I got a call from the home office wondering what I was working on. Bottom line - they are annoying, they make you feel like you are in a fish bowl, and I would never even consider working in a theatre that had them again.  |  IP: Logged Edward Jurich Master Film Handler Posts: 305 From: Las Vegas USA Registered: Jul 2003 posted 10-08-2004 09:33 AM                     quote: Jim Ziegler Bottom line - they are annoying, they make you feel like you are in a fish bowl, and I would never even consider working in a theatre that had them again That's more a problem with management mis-using the cameras and probably not good people to work for even if the cameras were not there. One thing I think is that employess need to know there are cameras around. The owner here did not want anyone to know where the cameras are but I informed our 17 year old female employee that the office has a camera and not to do anything she didn't want others to see like get dressed in there.  |  IP: Logged Jim Ziegler Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 753 From: West Hollywood, CA Registered: Jul 99 posted 10-08-2004 01:40 PM                     I'll give you a hint Edward - it was a KC based chain that is about to get pummeled by AMC... And no, I would not ever consider working for them again as long as they are run by their current CEO.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.