Agents Behaving Badly, Part IV: Phony apps net real charges

[VolAgent]

So you actually considered this?

Who wouldn't in that situation. The fact he realized how difficult it would be and how small the reward would be meant that the bank had good safeguards in place. Not to mention DHK's own ethics and morals would stop him even if he was so inclined. Day after day with all that money around, it is just a natural thought.

I always remember a story my cousin told me. His wife use to work at a bank in Las Vegas some years ago. One day one of her co-workers came to her and asked if she had ever seen a billion dollars before. Of course she said no, so they walked out to the loading dock and there it was, palletted and shrink wrapped to be send to the Fed. I'm sure there were plenty of armed guards as well.

I'm sure it crossed many people's minds how to get that money, but that doesn't mean they were serious, just a thought they had.

 

[DHK]

Day after day with all that money around, it is just a natural thought.

Strangely enough, the longer you work around paper money, the more it's just "inventory". It's stuff that needs to be managed. I had no temptations - particularly with internal dual controls for most tasks with cash. Handling cash in a bank was just a chore.

It's when you're in bank management and you hear about all the local bank robberies, internal fraud, and other things... and it was OUR job to help detect these things and contact internal investigations as needed - which I've had to do multiple times.

If you want to take the joy out of managing cash... work at a bank for an extended period of time.

 

[VolAgent]

Strangely enough, the longer you work around paper money, the more it's just "inventory". It's stuff that needs to be managed. I had no temptations - particularly with internal dual controls for most tasks with cash. Handling cash in a bank was just a chore.

It's when you're in bank management and you hear about all the local bank robberies, internal fraud, and other things... and it was OUR job to help detect these things and contact internal investigations as needed - which I've had to do multiple times.

If you want to take the joy out of managing cash... work at a bank for an extended period of time.

I can see that. Once upon a time I worked in a restaurant and dealt with the cash at the end of the night. Wasn't terribly long, but quickly got tired of how dirty the money was and how dirty it made my hands. Never really thought about trying to steal it, but it really wasn't that much money, maybe a few thousand on a busy night.

 

[shonceman]

Who wouldn't in that situation. The fact he realized how difficult it would be and how small the reward would be meant that the bank had good safeguards in place. Not to mention DHK's own ethics and morals would stop him even if he was so inclined. Day after day with all that money around, it is just a natural thought.

I always remember a story my cousin told me. His wife use to work at a bank in Las Vegas some years ago. One day one of her co-workers came to her and asked if she had ever seen a billion dollars before. Of course she said no, so they walked out to the loading dock and there it was, palletted and shrink wrapped to be send to the Fed. I'm sure there were plenty of armed guards as well.

I'm sure it crossed many people's minds how to get that money, but that doesn't mean they were serious, just a thought they had.

So you have a criminal mind, too??!!!
I’m just kidding anyway. (JK, DHK!)

 

[VolAgent]

So you have a criminal mind, too??!!!
I’m just kidding anyway. (JK, DHK!)

I know, but think about it. You get bored, maybe you are pissed off at your boss or the company and thought of "Man, if I could just get a few million and then disappear..." crosses your mind.

 

[walthamny]

I worked in check processing at the Federal reserve Bank after college. We avoided having lunch with the folks from the cash department. The whole cash department had to leave and go to lunch at the same time and they had to lock up everything behind. And they had to report back from lunch at the same time too. We had lunch staggered so it was more enjoyable. And yes, when you work at the Federal reserve, you see lots and lots of cash.

 

[TampaHound]

I agree. 11000 dollars. Don't these people learn from Madoff. If you are going to do this, do it big.

The only thing I can think of here is that in keeping the amount small, they thought it would not be noticed.

 

[Surancedawg]

Sure I THOUGHT about it. That doesn't mean that I DID anything about it or even attempted anything. Nor did I ever talk to any of my employees about doing anything with me.

But yeah, I thought about what it would take to pull something like that off and make it big enough to be worth it. It's just not worth it.

Plus, cashier's checks can be cancelled out quickly. Wire transfers can be recalled within 24 hours. And just flat out robbing the vault... well, banks don't carry as much cash in their vaults as one might think. At one time, I had at most about $500k in cash, and that wasn't all in $100's. That's a lot of cash and gets heavy.

Not enough to make any kind of attempt worth it. No way.

That's why I sell insurance.

The fear of getting caught is the lowest form of morality.

 

[DHK]

You mean the fact that the BANK has all these checks and balances within their internal security to PREVENT and CATCH internal fraud... and I just happen to THINK THROUGH all of this?

And I was the branch OPERATIONS officer, so it was MY JOB to think this way to PREVENT internal fraud?

And it was the BANK'S job to TRAIN me to think this way?

EVERYTHING in banking is about PREVENTING fraud before it happens. Banks aren't about morality. They are about preventing losses. Minimize losses and maximize opportunities.

You sure like to make morality judgments without a lot of facts.

 

[DHK]

No one would've gotten away with this at my former bank employers because we ran a check issue register every night and compared the check numbers and payees from the previous business day. Would've seen irregularities within 24 hours.

CBS Employees Credit Union Shuts Down As Manager Charged With Embezzling $40 Million

The alleged scheme was exposed beginning on March 6 when a credit union employee found a $35,000 check made payable to Rostohar, and the check did not include the reason for the high dollar amount, according to court documents. The employee conducted an audit of the credit union checks issued since January 2018 and discovered $3,775,000 in checks made payable to Rostohar and which contained the forged signature of another employee without the employee’s knowledge or consent.

[...]

Prior to his 30 years of employment at the CBS Employees credit union, Rostohar was an examiner at NCUA, court documents state. Rostohar allegedly told law enforcement that this background gave him knowledge of what NCUA examiners look for when examining credit unions and allowed him to avoid detection, the affidavit states.