I have fired a surprising number of dishonest dental employees.

When confronted with their crimes, most immediately and vigorously deny all allegations, and then leave in a hurry. Other make verbal threats at the dentist while being removed from the practice.

“If I’m going down, you’re going down too!”  (pointing finger at dentist)

“When I tell everyone what you’re really like, you won’t have any patients left”

About 1 in 5 dishonest employees have actually confessed to me – well, kind of.

When I asked dishonest employees if they know how much money they had stolen; the answers varied.

“It can’t be more than $9,000”

“I think it is a little over $20,000”

“I think it might be $30,000. Please don’t call the police, I’ll pay it back”

Turns out, after completion of my audit work, the theft was actually 3X to 5X more than what the perpetrator “thought” they stole.

They also lied about the length of their crime

When asked “How long have you been taking money from the practice?” every embezzler has lied.

When an embezzler says “just few months” it usually means a year.

When they say “probably a year”, it means 3 years or more.

“Why is this information important? It won’t help me prevent fraud.”

Knowing this will help you understand that when an employee is caught stealing, they will DOWNPLAY the harm and the magnitude of their crime.

This is called Denial of Injury and it is one of the Techniques of Neutralization that embezzlers use to rationalize their behavior.

So if you ever confront an employee for stealing and they admit to “just taking few hundred out of desperation” or “maybe a couple thousand, but I’ll pay it back” they are lying to you, and you can multiply that amount by 10X, 20X or more.

Wait. Hang on… something is not right here!

Didn’t you say earlier that embezzlers downplayed their magnitude of their crime to you by 3X to 5X?

Yes, that is true, when I asked that question.

The magnitude that an embezzler will downplay their crime depends on what they know about the person who asking the question. The employees had never met me before, and I introduced myself as an auditor.

Your employees know you well.

So, when you ask that question, a dishonest employee will tell you a whopping lie.

Always remember: when dealing with the financial affairs (and employees) of your practice, maintain a healthy skepticism at all times. (Healthy skepticism means that you think critically when you engage with new content, ideas, or perspectives. )