White Collar Crime: Toys R Us gets Embezzled

If you walk into any Toys R Us facility whether it's a store or distribution center you can expect that there is that magical eye in the sky, big brother watching your every move, from customer to employee. You can also expect that there is a security guard wondering the area as well. This fact is most noticeable in the DC's where there are cameras on walls and posted on pillars throughout; uniformed security people making rounds to keep the goods safe from thieving hands even if those "suppose" thieving hands are that of the people they pay to load and unload and store their goods on shelves. With all of TRU's efforts to keep thieves at bay, maybe corporate should turn their suspicious eyes inwards, towards themselves.

Reuters reported on March 23, 2016 that Federal Authorities arrested one of Toy R Us's company directors of transportation for inbound and oubound freight. The director, according to the complaint filed, allegedly loaded the company's ECASH card  (ECASH cards are sort of like a company debit card) with funds that were suppose to go to truck driver accounts to be used for things like meals, lodging and repairs. The complaint claims that the director, whose name has been withheld, withdrew funds 117 times over the past three years (starting in May 2013), using ATM's both here in the U.S. and in Europe. The director is also said to have transferred $600,000 directly into his bank account over the same period of time. In total it is believed that up $2m had been taken.

Toys R Us released a statement saying:


"Because this is an active investigation, we are limited in what we can say publicly at this time. However, we can tell you that integrity is at the center of all that we do at Toys R Us..."

TRU's statement goes on to say that upon discovering that a criminal act had occurred that they immediately contacted law enforcement.

However, this isn't the first act of this type of white collar crime to hit the TRU family. In September 2011 Toys R Us manager in Britain, Paul Hopes, embezzled $6m in funds to pay for sexual services. Hopes is currently is serving a 7 year term behind bars and has been ordered by British courts to pay back the stolen funds.

Hopes was a purchasing manager with TRU for 23 years.

Employees at one of the company's District Centers, speaking anonymously do to the fact that it is against policy rules to use social media and talk about the company, jokingly stated that they have been asking for higher wages "...now we know why they [TRU] keep turning us down."