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"Don't Do It!"
The new bank employee teller was working in a branch in her own home town. She knew many of the people who came to her teller's window. Like some of her friends, she is a single parent, living in a small apartment.
The job did not pay wonderfully, but her parents lived nearby, so she was able to "eat out" with them a couple of times a week. Her sister babysat for her. And she had a "steady" she dated. She was able to buy an old car. She shopped the thrift stores. But she managed.
She was good in her job on the window. Had very few differences. The customers liked her. Things were really going pretty well.
Until the flat tire.
The fellow at the gas station said the tire was not fixable, and a new one was $49. She had no credit card. There was no sense in trying to go borrow from her Dad, because he hadn't wanted her to buy that particular car in the first place. She was desperate.
At that moment, one of the bank's very elderly customers came to her window to make a withdrawal from her passbook of $100. There was over $20,000 balance in her passbook, but they'd been unable to convince her to invest in anything more profitable. She liked having the passbook.
Spotting an opportunity, the teller explained to the confused, old lady that her withdrawal slip was not "filled out just right" and helped her fill out another withdrawal for $100. The customer trustfully signed the second withdrawal. Later that afternoon, the teller cashed the original withdrawal for herself and the deed was done.
It really was too, too easy. The new tire was purchased, and no one was the wiser, she thought…
This young lady was interviewed - right after she had been convicted and sentenced to full restitution and two years community service. That original theft had led to others. By the time the bank discovered what she had been doing, she had stolen almost $6,000 from customers' accounts.
She was crying when she was interviewed. She said she never thought of it as "stealing" - rather, she was just "borrowing" and really had full intentions of paying it back. She wanted very badly to believe that. She knows now it was stealing. That much was clear when the police took her out of the branch in handcuffs. She said she'd been crying ever since.
She has a criminal record, and can no longer work for any financial institution. She's on welfare. Her family and friends will have nothing to do with her. The fellow she had been dating has disappeared from her life. She doesn't know how she's going to tell her little boy about this when he gets older. She said she would give anything to turn back the clock to that day - that her life is ruined.
The odds are really stacked against anyone stealing from inside a financial institution. Between audit procedures and the use of other discovery methods, virtually every embezzler eventually gets caught. It's true jail terms for white collar crime are not heavy, but the price paid with a blown-away life is very, very heavy indeed.
My heart went out to her - she is so unhappy. I wish every person who handles cash could talk to this young lady, whose future is now in ashes. I can only do as she asked and pass on her message to you.
Her message was simple. If you are ever tempted, "Don't do it! Don't think you won't be caught.
"Just don't do it."
Copyright © 1999 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 9, No. 8, 9/99
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