“A Catholic nun broke one of the Ten Commandments by embezzling $850,000 from a suburban New York City college and gambling it away in Atlantic City, according to federal prosecutors.”

Last week during a Boy Scouts meeting, as the meeting was underway, my son’s boy scout uniform (just back from having patches sewn on) was hanging in the back to bring home after the meeting.  In plain view with constant activity, someone stole his uniform off the rack.  Gone, without a trace (and ironically after I posted the virtues of Boy Scouting).  Now we must buy him a new uniform and all the badges and patches that accompany it.  Who would have figured that to happen?

Yesterday I was packing up the outside furniture for the season, and storing the outside items away.  When I went to disassemble our hammock in the front yard, I discovered a small problem.  No hammock.  Someone had stolen our hammock right from the front of our house, where it sat all season.  Perhaps for the metal (scrap value), perhaps to enjoy on their own property?  Either way a brazen larceny right from our front yard.

Now today I learned bicycles were stolen last evening from my mother-in-law’s house, moved just yesterday to be stored today for the season.  When they went to put them away they encountered a small problem – no more bikes to store.  Someone during the night came through her fence and made off with the bikes.

I searched tonight to determine if property crimes were occurring more frequently, and if so, why that was the case.  I didn’t find any meaningful information.  I did find an interesting article that made the loss of my son’s scout uniform pale in comparison to the loss of an entire boy scout troop’s gear.

Troop 154 stored all their gear in a troop trailer, and when thieves stole the troop’s trailer, they stole the entire gear inventory for the troop.  Here’s the link to their story:

http://www.c-dh.net/articles/2010/10/13/top_stories/02scouttroop.txt

I thought the ad was a well-executed play on words.  “Consider the Chaser” related to a drink following a drink, such as a shot and a beer.  It also meant consider the police who have to chase down the drunk driver.  Drinking and driving puts not only the driver and their passengers at risk, but also everyone else out and about as well as the law enforcement personnel out enforcing the drunk driving laws.

All too often drivers under the influence cause devastating accidents, leading to injuries and deaths.  Having worked on an ambulance for 13 years, I have seen these first hand, and have had to treat innocent victims of these crimes.  The drivers get behind the wheel without much thought about the consequences as they decided to drink and drive.

White collar crimes are not much different.  Time and again I deal with employee embezzlements, and often the suspect’s actions, once revealed, have devastating effects on their spouse, significant other, children, grandchildren, other family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers and anyone else in any way related to the suspect.  Over the years I have interacted with many embezzlers who never thought they would ever get caught, and also who never considered what the impacts would be if they did in fact get caught.

I have witnessed marriages irreparably broken, children displaced to relatives or state protective custody, parents disowning their child, children disowning their parents, siblings divided forever, and in most of those cases the embezzler never contemplated the level of consequences they ultimately experienced.

In writing blog posts I certainly will not be able to stop individuals contemplating or currently embezzling funds from their employer or family.  My goal is to make readers think about all the consequences, and consider the benefits versus costs of stealing funds or assets of others.

Consider all the possible consequences, as far fetched as they might seem, before deciding to embezzle funds to solve financial crises in your life.  Surrendering all your assets, displacing your family and going to jail can be no fun for everyone involved.