Employee who borrows large sums of money from coworkers & does NOT pay them back!

[JES1977]

Hi,

I have a question as to whether my friends/co-workers have a basis on which to file a police report:

At my company where I work, we have one employee in particular who has borrowed thousands of dollars over a period of years from some of my friends/co-workers, and to date she has refused to pay them back after being asked again and again - months go by. Some of the victims were contractors and when their contracts were up at my company, they had to leave and never got their money. Some of the victims were laid off and never got the chance to get their money back either.

My friends tell me she claims she has a family emergency and needs to borrow money and promises to pay them back next pay day. And she never does, months go by and they never see their money again.

The other story is she claims to be able to get a special deal on a laptop computer or IPod (because she also has another job in addition to this one - she works part time at a computer store.) She takes their money and they never see it again or the computer or IPod either.

Apparently it has taken people a while to complain, either because they leave the company or because they want to assume the best and keep faith that she will eventually pay them back, and I even sense some of my friends/co-workers are a little embarrassed they allowed this to happen. But it's all unravelling now.

There was only one buddy / co-worker who did mamage to get his $1500.00 back after many attempts at confronting her - (she kept insisting she didn't have the $$). He did this by threatening to send a mass email to everybody in our company and expose what she did unless she paid him back by 4pm that day. She did.

Some of my other co-workers complained to our team of managers what she did to them, so they know about it but I guess they are afraid of firing her or something, I'm not sure why.

Then when she found out about some of my friends who complained to management, she went straight to HR accusing them of racisim. This is so not true! It's ridiculous because all my buddies want is their money back, (or their promised computer laptop or IPod.)

Please, PELASE advise if they these vics should call our local PD and try to make a mass report, or if we don't have a leg to stand on.

Thank you,
Very Sincerely,
JES

[Citicop]

This is almost certainly a civil matter.

For it to be fraud, there would have to be proof that the suspect knew at the time they got the money that they weren't going to pay it back. Since that is about impossible, you would have to sue this person in civil court to recover the money.

-Citicop.

[mcsap]

This is a civil matter ( preceded by stupidity).

[JES1977]

Thank you both for your replies, that's what I was afraid of. I forgot to mention all the people I spoke with paid using a check, so at least they can prove they gave her the money and how much.

And that one friend/co-worker I mentioned who got his $1500.00 back - well has gone to the computer store manager where this She-Perp works to alert them they may have another thief on their hands. Because ironically 6 months ago, we had different employee (Guy-Perp) who was fired from our company because he was caught stealing some of our computers from our storage and selling them on the internet, and addition he was caught stealing computers from that same computer store which the She-Perp still works. In fact, the attorney general contacted our VP at our company to tell us he was arrested and charged.

Thank you again for your quick and honest replies, and I am so happy to know this site is available for civilians like us to ask questions.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Very Sincerely,
JES

[mobrien316]

The loans are a civil matter, definitely. If people loaned her money and she never paid them back they will have to address that matter through civil court, which will cost more than the loans, probably.

In Connecticut, if this person took money from people in exchange for purchasing something at a discounted price, and then she never gave them either the item or the money back, she is guilty of larceny. Check with your local PD regarding your state's laws.

[JES1977]

The loans are a civil matter, definitely. If people loaned her money and she never paid them back they will have to address that matter through civil court, which will cost more than the loans, probably.

In Connecticut, if this person took money from people in exchange for purchasing something at a discounted price, and then she never gave them either the item or the money back, she is guilty of larceny. Check with your local PD regarding your state's laws.

Thank you so much for this information, I will check then, we are in Illinois and so I will check with our local police department in the suburb where our company is. Thank you again to all who responded, I love this site. Please all have a very Merry Christmas and a safe Happy New Year too.
Very Sincerely,
JES

[BP348]

This is a civil matter ( preceded by stupidity).

This +1!!!!

If this person has the reputation of borrowing money and never pays people back why would anyone lend her money? Boggles the mind!!!

If I had lent her money I would make it my mission to tell everyone that she had borrowed "X" amount of money from me and never paid me back. This is double for anyone that's new to the company. Something like, Hi I'm Joe glad to met you and by the way at some point Jane is going to ask you to lend her some money, don't do it she'll never pay you back.

Of course in real life there are very few people I'd lend more then $20 too. Learned the hard way! ;)

[Legoate]

I've always gone by the rule not to LOAN anyone money. If I give someone money, it's a gift. That way I don't get pissed off if they don't pay me back. If they do pay me back, it's an unexpected bonus.

[JES1977]

This +1!!!!

If this person has the reputation of borrowing money and never pays people back why would anyone lend her money? Boggles the mind!!!

If I had lent her money I would make it my mission to tell everyone that she had borrowed "X" amount of money from me and never paid me back. This is double for anyone that's new to the company. Something like, Hi I'm Joe glad to met you and by the way at some point Jane is going to ask you to lend her some money, don't do it she'll never pay you back.

Of course in real life there are very few people I'd lend more then $20 too. Learned the hard way! ;)

Hi BP348, let me try to explain - the reason I think people didn't know about all the others she was also borrowing money from, is first it took some time to realize what she had done, but then also people didn't share that with others out of dignity or humility I think, it's private. I hope that makes sense. Once my cousin asked me to loan him some money, he paid me back too, but I wouldn't tell others because it would have hurt him, it was difficult for him to ask me in the first place. Hope that makes sense.

Very Sincerely, and all the best ..
JES

[JES1977]

I've always gone by the rule not to LOAN anyone money. If I give someone money, it's a gift. That way I don't get pissed off if they don't pay me back. If they do pay me back, it's an unexpected bonus.

Yes you are rigiht, that is the wisest philosophy to adapt, but most civilians aren't that wise, they are every-day people, basically good natured. I think LEOs are forced to become wiser because they have lots of life experience seeing the darker side of humanity and they gain that wisdom and insight.

Thank you again for all your replies! Plz stay safe !
Very Sincerely,
JES