A Cook County, Illinois school employee pled guilty to stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings and other food items from the district during the pandemic.

The 67-year-old woman began working for Harvey School District 152 as the director of food services in July 2020. She allegedly "made hundreds of unauthorized orders for food items, including 11,000 cases of chicken wings," between the time she started and February 2022.

Although students were learning remotely at the time, the school district continued to provide meals that students' families could pick up and take home. The employee allegedly made the fraudulent orders, which were paid for by the district, separately from the actual orders for food made by the district for the families. The employee allegedly used a district cargo van to pick up and transport the fraudulently obtained food, which was not brought to the school or given to students.

An investigation found that the food services department had overspent its budget by $300,000 halfway through the year, which led to the discovery of the theft.

The woman was sentenced to nine years in prison. Alex Lang "Finger-lickin' fraud! School employee admits to stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings" www.independent.co.uk (Aug. 11, 2024).

Commentary and Checklist

The National Center for Education Statistics' "School Survey on Crime and Safety" (SSOCS) https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=719 asked public school principals to provide the number of incidents of various crime that occurred at their school.

Relating only to the crime of theft of items valued at $10 or greater, during the most recent year of data collection (2019-2020), the percentage of public schools recording one or more incidents of theft at school and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students (whether or not the incident was reported to sworn law enforcement) was 31.7 percent.

In this case, an investigation uncovered the fraud scheme, but only after the theft had gone on for two years and cost the district $1.5M.

Audits other financial investigations and reviews are essential, but they must not be a school district's only means of preventing and stopping employee theft. Physical oversight – with regular financial reviews - is critical for catching misconduct in its early stages.

What are other best practices for preventing loss of inventory, supplies, or other physical items?

• Develop, distribute, and enforce a policy promoting honesty and integrity and prohibiting inventory theft. Have all employees acknowledge in writing their receipt and understanding of the policy
• Develop and enforce standards of checks and balances regarding inventory and inventory oversight
• Limit access to those who must access inventory in order to perform their job
• Perform due diligence on employees who will have access to inventory, including criminal background checks
• Do not provide access or oversight to employees with a history of embezzlement, fraud, theft, or other fidelity crimes
• Avoid providing authority over inventory to one person without oversight and frequent review
• Create a system of oversight so multiple people can view and/or oversee how inventory is managed
• Select an up-to-date accounting software that allows you to account for and monitor inventory. Routinely monitor inventory levels including accounting for intake and purchases
• Routinely perform an "eyes on" inspection of inventory to make certain the online inventory data is correct
• Require warehouse managers to frequently walk and monitor the warehouse
• Monitor all areas of the inventory facility, including shipping and receiving bays, entrances, exits, shelves, lounge areas, and any other area where inventory may be hidden or later taken to leave the facility
• Pay special attention to employees who are starting their own business, have their own business, or work part-time for competitors
• Monitor the public online stores or sales of employees with access to inventory
• Monitor the promotions or activities of competitors for sale of inventory outside the norm of their business operations and your inventory
• If employees are permitted use of inventory for sales or promotions, make certain the inventory stays in your facility
• Conduct unannounced warehouse inspections by upper management or outside third parties
• Hire third parties to audit inventory in the warehouse and on the shelf
• Involve multiple employees in the intake process to ensure inventory is accounted for accurately upon purchase
• For tracking of access to inventory online, do not permit sharing of identities. Require each person with access to have their own unique user ID and password
• Train employees to secure their online identities including not writing down, changing, sharing, and/or employing weak passwords
• Lock expensive or high demand inventory in a secure area and require a management to access. Make sure all expensive and high demand inventory extraction is witnessed
• Use security cameras to visually monitor all activity surrounding and involving inventory
• Review security footage when investigating reasonable suspicions of theft or embezzlement
• Disclose to employees that workspace is visually recorded
• Securely lock all entrances and exits to your inventory facility and use tracking software to monitor access
• Make sure all employees who handle inventory take their allotted leave and allow others to perform their job duties during that time
• Prohibit storing or leaving stock near exits or loading bays for long periods of time
• Create a set time your inventory facility will open and close. Do not allow employees to work at the facility outside of those hours
• Prohibit visitors, vendors, or delivery drivers from loitering inside your inventory facility unattended. Provide a separate waiting area for them to use while visiting
• Provide a means for employees and others to report suspicions of wrongdoing - including inventory theft, employee embezzlement, and/or theft - easily, safely, and without retaliation
• Consider a third-party mechanism for employees and other workplace participants to anonymously report suspicions of wrongdoing, including inventory theft
• Promptly investigate complaints from employees, workplace participants, or vendors regarding inventory issues
• Investigate all suspicious or unusual inventory activity in a prompt, thorough, and objective manner
• If an investigation is warranted, use a person trained in investigating fidelity crimes and/or a person experienced in forensic accounting
• If inventory theft is detected or reasonably suspected, consult legal counsel immediately
• Do not terminate a person or make accusations of inventory theft or other fidelity crimes without seeking information from law enforcement and advice from an attorney