One of the reasons why relations between business owners and employees have always been problematic is the suspicion that theft is going on – employees are generally convinced that the ownership is trying to screw as much work out of them for as little money as possible (which is generally the case), and owners are usually convinced that the employees are slacking off, taking longer than necessary to complete tasks, demanding more assistance than they need to complete tasks, and making off with anything that isn’t nailed down (which is also frequently the case). Probably the ultimate expression of both concerns is the issue of embezzlement; loyal employees who have never taken advantage of the company despite decades of opportunities (and despite being sorely tried) find it outrageous that owners don’t trust them, while owners feel outraged that after years of paying salaries on time, offering competitive benefits and opportunities for advancement, and maintaining workplace standards that are safe enough to avoid sanctions from OSHA, they still have to worry about their employees dipping into petty cash…
A new chapter in this centuries-old cold war appears to have turned up in Maine last week. According to an article in the Kennebec Journal online page, a woman who had until recently been employed by the Maine Trial Lawyers Association pleaded guilty this week to embezzling $166,000 from the organization over a four year period, mostly in small amounts ranging from $2,000 to $6,000. This by itself isn’t remarkable – embezzlement is almost as common in America as employers think it is, and while trial lawyers may be assumed to be highly intelligent, there is no reason to believe that they know more about accounting (or audit their books more often) than any other advocacy group. What makes this case so remarkable is that the defendant apparently spent the entire $166,000 on in-game purchases in Farmville and Mafia Wars…
If you’re not familiar with these games, the basic concepts are simple enough: build up your own enterprise (either a farm or a criminal enterprise) through the use of repetitive activities (raising crops and committing crimes, respectively). But these activities take a great commitment of real time on the part of the player, and contribute nothing to the software company that wrote the programs (since the games are offered for free on Facebook), so the designers included the opportunity to buy certain achievements and accessories using real-world money. Thus, you can spend actual dollars to purchase an entirely imaginary sheep, pig, or mob enforcer, assuming you have the funds to do so. We’ve discussed the concept of paying real money for imaginary products in this space before, but this is the first case I can remember of a person committing felonies in the real world (and eventually going to jail in the real world) in order to enhance their online life…
From a business standpoint this case isn’t really important – the crime of embezzlement is as old as commerce itself, and it really doesn’t matter to the organization being robbed what the thieves do with the money once they have stolen it. Nor can we reasonable expect the software company to do anything about the situation; they make perfectly innocent (if somewhat dull) entertainment software, and no one could blame them for either making money or offering virtual products for sale. Still, I think it bears mentioning that along with drugs, alcohol, gambling, and the other traditional illicit behaviors that people will embezzle money to support, there is a new addiction we have to worry about. It probably wouldn’t hurt to review your company’s anti-theft measures now, before somebody you employ makes off with a pile of company funds in order to buy their own herd of cows…
No comments:
Post a Comment