An anti-Fraud Professional and Lecturer, Ransford Nana Addo Jnr, has warned that employee fraud is widespread and affects all types of businesses and even homes.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, he said, “Employee fraud is something that nobody or no business is spared, from banking to aviation, telecom, even our domestic helps.”

He shared a telling example of a house help who gave her employers a sudden notice that she would be leaving. “They said she should go and bring her things so they could drop her at the station. The bag she brought out compared to what she brought in years ago was something else.

"To shock you, they found provisions enough to set up a business in her hometown,” he recounted. “The kids she was supposed to take care of, they were three, were meant to take a tin of milk every day. But she used a tin for them the whole week or two before they drank one. The rest were being stored for a provision business in the village.”

Mr Addo Jnr explained that people who engage in this kind of fraud are often those seen as hardworking and trustworthy.

“Their hard work will take your eyes off their tricks,” he said. “You go to a mechanic shop very hardworking man and he’ll say, ‘Don’t worry, our boss. This thing is very expensive, if you bring it here, we know how to get it for you.’ But meanwhile, he is not stealing your lubricants, or your money but he is pushing your customers away

He warned that employee fraud can quietly destroy a business. “You’ll be there thinking nothing is missing, but gradually your business is going to shrink.”

To manage employee fraud, he suggested several approaches. One is to completely avoid business types where fraud risk cannot be managed. Another is to transfer the risk through insurance packages, like employee fidelity plans, or outsource that part of the business to people with time and resources to manage it. A third option is to mitigate the risk directly by being deliberate about internal controls. The last option which he discouraged is to simply accept the risk and do nothing about it.

“There are people who say, ‘I’ve brought 50 vehicles, I don’t care who runs away with one. I’ll keep praying and hope God sends me good people.’ But if you really want to deal with these things, you have to be very intentional,” he said.