Time Theft | Expense Fraud

The experienced detectives of the Aaden Corporate Detective Agency Cologne verify the loyalty of your employees in both internal and external roles when there is suspicion of expense and billing fraud: +49 221 9859 2399.

Well Fed and Fully Fueled – The Employer Pays

A surprisingly high proportion of employees tend to enrich themselves at the expense of their employers. Primarily external staff take advantage of not working within the company premises and therefore not being under direct supervision, in order to provide false information in expense and time reports. Due to the nature of field work performed by these disloyal employees, it is difficult for the company to verify how much time the employee has actually spent on their duties and which expenses were incurred for business purposes.

For example, a dinner at an upscale restaurant with the family is declared as a business meal and submitted as an expense, as is a fuel receipt that does not indicate whether the company vehicle or a private vehicle was refueled. Or—and these are the primary cases of suspicion in assignments handled by our Cologne detectives—working hours are recorded on timesheets during which personal errands were carried out.

Dishonest Employees Cause Reputational Damage

In many professions, it is more or less common practice to record more working time than was actually performed. A stereotypical example is construction workers. However, based on the experience of our Cologne corporate detectives, customer consultants in the field are also frequently among the offending employees. In most cases, no one checks whether a consultant spent half an hour or a full hour with a client, or whether the installation of a complete bathroom in a new building took one or two days. Of course, in many cases you can pass these working hours on to the client through billing, but the client may be dissatisfied with your high invoice, may not hire you again, and may not recommend your company—in fact, the opposite may occur: reputational damage, often without your knowledge.

It often takes months before such irregularities become apparent, which is why you should intervene as early as possible if you notice signs of time theft. The Aaden Detective Agency Cologne monitors the suspicious employee, documents unlawful activities, and thus provides you with court-admissible evidence. Learn more about the possibilities of employee screening by our detectives from Cologne in a personal consultation: +49 221 9859 2399.