- Hello Ms. Ayşen, you called? What’s up?

- Nothing good, I’m afraid Mr Kurt. Our payments supervisor Omur has been withdrawing from the client accounts for his own personal use. Could you please come to the safe department? He’s here right now.

- Oh my God! I’ll be right there.

Musa Kurt left the meeting to go to the safe department. All the while he mutters to himself, “What in hell did you do, Omur?” When he arrived at the safe department he found Omur sitting on a chair with his head hanging down. He quietly said, “Hello” to Aysen and then sat in a chair opposite Omur.

- What’s going on, Omur? Do you have any idea why I’m here?

- Yes I do, Mr Kurt.

- Is there anything you want to say to me?

- Mr Kurt, I’ve withdrawn money from our client accounts. At first I was sure I would put the money back. But then I started to take more as my personal needs and credit card debts increased. As a result everything has become so complicated and impossibly tangled. Ms. Aysen discovered the situation. I’ve nowhere left to run.

- Alright, Ömür. Would you please write all you’ve just said and then sign it? I’m sorry. How long have you been working for us?

- 22 years, Mr Kurt. I was going to retire in five months’ time.

- What a waste, Omur. Was it worth the trouble?

- I’m so sorry, Mr Kurt.

Ömür was an employee loved by everyone and seen as a friendly and honest worker who had given his best years to the company. Musa Kurt immediately gave instructions to his inspectors and asked them to examine the case in complete detail. The inspectors examined all of the account activities. The supervisor’s drawers, computer records and the safe department were thoroughly searched.

One of the inspectors who had participated in a safe count a year ago had found that the safe counts were not being done properly and that the banknotes were counted without opening the wads. He had written a report on this observation. However, the Asst. General Manager, Ms Aysen, had rejected the report and argued that such incompetence was impossible. Again, similarly in an audit report, it was determined that the supervisor was not competent enough to make payments or enter accounting records. However, the advice was again rejected on grounds that work would slow down.

According to company procedure, accounting sheets related to all processes have to be posted to the clients. This had to be done through the postal clerk. However, the safe supervisor said, “The clients want to receive the documents by hand from me.” He convinced the postal clerk and then did not post the documents, instead hiding them.

After the inspection, it was determined that the safe supervisor had been embezzling client funds for years. By using a total of 14 different methods, the supervisor had succeeded in withdrawing huge amounts of money. The risks involved with these 14 methods had all been noted by inspectors and reported, yet the responsible managers had not taken sufficient notice of this.

That night, and for the following three months, four inspectors and the senior executives of the company spent a great deal of time fully examining the incident. Morale was running low. Everyone was blaming everyone else.

Ömür had starting using client money by embezzling very small amounts at first. His intention had been to sort out his needs quickly and then replace the money he had taken. However, the easy way out soon became more and more attractive. After seeing that inspections were inadequate, he started taking out more money and instead of replacing the money he would buy his friends and family gifts and take them to nice places. Each time he withdrew money, the deficit in the accounts kept getting bigger. He was filling in the gaps by moving around money between the client accounts; however the deficit had reached a point where it was impossible to cover up.

And finally that day he could do nothing more. Because of a client who demanded payment and complained when there was a delay, the truth had come out.

• Ömür was fired. He lost all respectability. He separated from his wife. He was unemployed for a long time.

• Ayşen and her colleagues did not receive their bonus payouts for that year.

• The postal clerk was given an official reprimand for not following procedure and his promotion was suspended.

• Checks became tighter after this incident and the company’s law department, audit board and some directors found themselves spending a lot of time on examination and court procedures.