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Hi All

Would like some help please. One of my friends who is new to business (setup about 6 months back) in Dubai thinks that he has a particular person stealing from him. His business is cash orientated and it looks like the guy has been creaming off the top for the last 2 months. He wants to get the money back but lacks 100% proof of the stealing. He is thinking of installing a secret video cam to catch the guy in the act and than threathen him with jail if he doesn't pay it all back in which case he will just cancel his visa and employment and send him packing. A few questions -

1. Will the police accept video evidence and lock him up?
2. What is the prison term and consequences of stealing for the guy?
3. Any other thoughts on how best to catch this guy and get his cash back?

Thx

Coat the cash in fluorescent powder that can only be seen under a an ultraviolet light.

they will put him in jail if you have enough evidence. you will probably have to install 3 to 4 CCTV cameras focused on the till area ( i am asuming its the till right?) to catch him red handed from 3 to 4 different angles to make your case stronger!

i dont know how you will get your money back but i recommend you install the camera and once you have caught him doing it, you show him the video and tell him mate if you return my money back i wont go to the coppers. etc etc.

heheh i have one crazy brain

JoeTGF wrote:Hi All

Would like some help please. One of my friends who is new to business (setup about 6 months back) in Dubai thinks that he has a particular person stealing from him. His business is cash orientated and it looks like the guy has been creaming off the top for the last 2 months. He wants to get the money back but lacks 100% proof of the stealing. He is thinking of installing a secret video cam to catch the guy in the act and than threathen him with jail if he doesn't pay it all back in which case he will just cancel his visa and employment and send him packing. A few questions -

1. Will the police accept video evidence and lock him up?
2. What is the prison term and consequences of stealing for the guy?
3. Any other thoughts on how best to catch this guy and get his cash back?

Thx

I think you need permission from the police to install a video camera. BUT, having said that, get one of those cameras parents use: baby camera monior to spy on their "nannies". If you get it on video and show it to him, I don't think he will want your friend to go to the police with it and would be more than willing to return the money and leave.

If the amount stolen so far is considerable I would think he would make the investment. Check this out:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... BkQ8wIwAA#

If you can't see the link google: baby camera monitor. (You can order it through google.) Alternatively home monitoring camera.

I would think it would be a worthwhile investment since he will need to replace this guy and will be able to watch the next guy. Cash can be very tempting.

Bora Bora wrote:

JoeTGF wrote:Hi All

Would like some help please. One of my friends who is new to business (setup about 6 months back) in Dubai thinks that he has a particular person stealing from him. His business is cash orientated and it looks like the guy has been creaming off the top for the last 2 months. He wants to get the money back but lacks 100% proof of the stealing. He is thinking of installing a secret video cam to catch the guy in the act and than threathen him with jail if he doesn't pay it all back in which case he will just cancel his visa and employment and send him packing. A few questions -

1. Will the police accept video evidence and lock him up?
2. What is the prison term and consequences of stealing for the guy?
3. Any other thoughts on how best to catch this guy and get his cash back?

Thx

I think you need permission from the police to install a video camera. BUT, having said that, get one of those cameras parents use: baby camera monior to spy on their "nannies". If you get it on video and show it to him, I don't think he will want your friend to go to the police with it and would be more than willing to return the money and leave.

If the amount stolen so far is considerable I would think he would make the investment. Check this out:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... BkQ8wIwAA#

If you can't see the link google: baby camera monitor. (You can order it through google.) Alternatively home monitoring camera.

I would think it would be a worthwhile investment since he will need to replace this guy and will be able to watch the next guy. Cash can be very tempting.

Thanks Bora - thats what he has in mind - well sort of - he has a very small home video recorder with is operated by remote control.

Depends what is your loss, is it worth it to invest 5 or 10,000 dirhams? Check with the police, most likely hidden cameras are not allowed. They have to be in plain view.
If it is not allowed, install a couple of hidden cameras, dont tell anyone, no time no dates, once you caught the thief on tape, install a surveillance camera in plain view and in the same spot. Wait a couple of days, then, show him the 1 st video and tell him he just got busted. What is he going to say, "yeah i stole the money but that was before"

http://www.spycameras.com/wireless,nann ... wi-fi.html

More covert, a little pricy though, I have a friend who ordered something like this. I dont know about uae laws, whether they customs might have any objections to this sort of thing

Joe, I'm sorry to hear about your friends predicament. I hope the culprit gets what he deserves. I can't abide thieves.

If its small change, not worth the hassle. Just fire his @ss. But do get evidence that its 100% that person. Sometimes things are not the way they seam.

We had an employee like that once, but he was good as what he did. So my dad never confortedor fired him, he said the little he skims off doesn't matter as the lost revenue with another employee wasnt worth it and almost impossible to get a replacement.

In the end he worked for us for over 25 years.

Thanks for the advice thus far.

DDS - this employee from what I gather is lazy and not that competant. My mate will definitely fire him but just wants to see if he can get some money back rather than just kicking him out. He said he definitely knows its him. The amount (he is not 100% sure as its hard to track) he believes is about 8,000 Dhs.

Based on people's comments and general international law recording his conversation with another employee is illegal (unless both consent) and my friend might get into more trouble with the police if he trys to submit it with all the privacy invasion laws the UAE seems to have. However I thought it might be a good idea for him to do it anyway as this guy probably doesn't know the law that well and if you anyone is confronted with solid video evidence of an admission to theft and a threat that you will call the police I think thats likely to put the fear of god into them. From what I understand theives are dealt upto 2 years in prision and a life ban from the UAE when deported after their sentence (??).

Would love to hear more thoughts as I really feel bad from my friend. He trusted this guy, gave him a visa, a good salary for someone with little/no qualifications and never mistreated him. His repayment has been a complete betrayl and I think he deserves to get even before he gives him the sack.

Only your friend can decide whether he/she believes the theft is worth prosecuting or simply writing off and putting the episode down to personal experience, if prosecution is the road chosen to follow then it would be imperative, in my opinion, to consult legal counsel and discuss the options available before taking any other action. I’m sure the option to prosecute would be advised by any legal counsel and again in my opinion is the only logical conclusion, if only for reasons of sending the message out to other potential thieves within the company for ‘as sure as eggs is eggs’, your friend isn’t the only one in the firm who knows what’s going on!!

Whichever option your friend chooses, there is a more pressing issue at hand here and that is one of internal security, the information you have posted thus far isn’t sufficient for specific comment or advice, but it is abundantly clear that there is discrepancy between Receipts and Sales and there is ‘opportunity’ for the thief.

The policies and procedures need to be revised, control measures introduced and the ‘opportunity’ removed, you need to think like a thief to catch a thief, and adjust the internal policies and procedures accordingly. Cash is the most popular commodity stolen from employers, and if your friend has been so lax in controlling the cash flow out of the company, I can only assume there is also little control over other commodities such as Time, Company Supplies, Merchandise, Overcharging Customers and pocketing the difference etc, the list goes on.

A common misconception for small business owners here in the Gulf is the belief that, because there is no required official or governmental reporting, or requirement for the submission of any tax liabilities, there is little or no need for accurate accounting or stock control? Is this possibly the reason why your friend “is not 100% sure as its hard to track, he believes is about 8,000 Dhs.” I feel pretty sure it is.

Regards

I can't disagree Dillon about the controls but its a small business as well as a new one. Even in large business's its difficult to prevent theft so while I am not sure it can ever be eradicated I am certain the message that my friend sends out and the steps he takes post this episode will improve things a lot. In Dubai the use of cash is far more predominant than in europe/us and that also creates a lot of problems with regards to the control process.

Regardless of the size, age or global location of the business, the business uses cash as do millions of other businesses around the globe, there are control measures and tools the business owner can employ to suit every application, to remove all opportunities from dishonest employees and/or identify the culprits when they act. The owner has two choices, trust future employees and risk getting let down again or implement the revised control measures and tools to further control the risk and protect his/her assets? I know which I would choose.

Regards

You can find some cheap and effective video monitoring systems in Dragon Mart.

Whether it is admissable in court is another question.



Knight

I think D.Dawg could be of some help in this regard as I think he deals with such things for a living.

As DD2 mentioned, I do this kind of stuff for a living. I was just down this road a month or so with a client. Suspected staff stealing, secret cameras, etc. I can tell you for sure:

#1 You need approval for CCTV (hidden or not) in any business
#2 Installer must be Police approved

I advised my client that it was not legal to put secret cameras in, and that I would not do it. She did it herself anyways, and was correct, the staff member was stealing.HOWEVER:

#1 Evidence was not admissable to police, they would not look at it
#2 Employee admitted the theft at the police stn., and the police took action based on that only. She was jailed and will face deportation and banning. The boss only wanted to scare her and send her home as she was a young girl who worked for her for years, but now not up to her.
#3 The municipality fined the boss for not having permits.
#4 The municipality, inspectors, fire brigade, etc. have been on her non-stop, costing 10's of thousands in audits, fines, even renovation work to the workspace.

For 8k, not worth it. I would suggest the art of suggestion. Sit the employee down and tell them you have the video evidence. Tell them you have CCTV equipment installed (wherever) and have all the dates and times. Ask them how they would like to pay it back and when to avoid a police incident.

Barring that, my sideline is breaking knees.

Thanks DD. Thats pretty much what my friend is thinking of. He knows that its not going to be admissable but feels that by showing the person that is stealing the evidence they will confess and feel worried enough about the consequences that they will pay back what they can. He doesn't want to get the police involved but just use the threat alone with hard evidence to back him up as otherwise he feels the guy will just lie to him and deny it. He has decided to use his iphone4 rather than buy any equipment to film and record it. He is going to put it inside a ring binder so that the camera looks through the whole on the arch and just sit it on his desk. He tested it tonight and said it worked well.

Failing that he will probably go the baseball bat route.