Tag Archives: Theft

by | September 26, 2013 · 5:44 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: New Jersey Hotel Employee Arrested For Stealing “Wedding Reception Cash”; Used Freight Elevator To Avoid Surveillance Cameras And Enter Rooms

“…(the former employee), who was hired in May, apparently slipped up through the freight elevator so that he wouldn’t be detected by hotel Hospitality Industry Employee Crimesurveillance cameras and then used a swipe card to get into unoccupied newlywed suites…$770 was taken (in one incident) and for another on Saturday, when a couple said $500 was stolen…”

A since-fired bell hop at the Saddle Brook Marriott was arrested by local police last night and charged with slipping into the rooms of newlyweds at their receptions and snatching some of their wedding-gift cash.

Timothy Henriquez, 30, of Chester, NY, is charged with two counts of theft — for a July incident in which $770 was taken and for another on Saturday, when a couple said $500 was stolen. He was released on a summons pending a Municipal Court hearing, police said.

“Upon learning of his arrest, Marriott terminated his employment,” Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler said.

For more: http://cliffviewpilot.com/saddle-brook-police-charge-hotel-employee-with-thefts-from-newlyweds-rooms/

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by | September 21, 2013 · 5:59 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: New Restaurant POS And Video Integration Software “Flags Questionable Transactions, Events And Conditions” To Reduce Employee Theft

“…software that can isolate POS activity not in compliance with performance standards and that is integrated with accompanying video Restaurant Employee Theftprovides training opportunities and also highlights suspicious activity of a particular cashier or manager…top that off with a video catching an employee in the act and it’s icing on the cake…The cloud-based system, which now has a real-time mobile app to alert  managers when suspicious activity occurs,  gives managers hard data on their employees, said Lori Kittle, CIO of Landry’s, the company behind 40 restaurant brands, including Morton’s, Bubba Gump and McCormick & Schmick’s…”

The National Restaurant Association estimates that internal employee theft is responsible for 75 percent of inventory shortages and about 4 percent of restaurant sales. Three-quarters of employees steal from the workplace at least once, while half steal repeatedly.

Another company specializing in detecting and preventing employee theft is EZConnect, which is used in Subway and Dunkin Donuts units. The platform features the ability to integrate digital video with the POS system as well.

“Suspicious cash transactions can be pinpointed and reviewed quickly, avoiding hours of research on standard digital camera systems,” Michael Starer, CEO of Profit Enhancement Technologies Inc., the company behind EZConnect.

For more:  http://www.fastcasual.com/article/219487/Using-technology-to-stop-restaurant-theft

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by | August 27, 2013 · 5:56 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: New Study Shows That Restaurant Employee Theft Can Be “Significantly Reduced” By Surveillance And Sales Transaction Monitoring

“…Knowing they were being monitored, the servers not only pulled back on any unethical practices, but also channeled their efforts into, say, prompting customers to have that dessert or a second beer, raising revenue for the restaurant and tips for themselves… in the restaurant Restaurant Employee Theftindustry, analysts estimate the losses from employee theft at 1 percent of revenue. That does not seem like a lot, but restaurant profit margins are slender, typically 2 to 5 percent. So cutting down on theft can be an important contributor to a restaurant’s financial health…”

And a new research paper, published on Saturday, shows in detail how significant the surveillance effect can be. The paper, “Cleaning House: The Impact of Information Technology Monitoring on Employee Theft and Productivity,” is the work of three academics: Lamar Pierce, an associate professor at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis; Daniel Snow, an associate professor at the Marriott School at Brigham Young University; and Andrew McAfee, a research scientist at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The researchers measured the impact of software that monitors employee-level theft and sales transactions, before and after the technology was installed, at 392 restaurants in 39 states. The restaurants were in five “casual dining” chains. The paper does not name the five,  but it cites examples of the casual dining category including Applebee’s, Chili’s and Olive Garden.

Employee theft and fraud is a big problem, estimated at up to $200 billion a year across the economy.

For more:  http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/how-surveillance-changes-behavior-a-restaurant-workers-case-study/?_r=0

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by | August 6, 2013 · 12:51 pm

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: New York Restaurant Employees Arrested For Identity Theft; Skimming Device Used To Steal 30 Customer Credit Cards

“…four (employees) were arrested…(and) found to have outstanding federal warrants for deportation and turned over to the Department of Hospitality Industry Identity TheftHomeland Security…Heng Li, 27 of Brooklyn had a credit card skimming device and a counterfeit Michigan ID card.  He was charged with possession of a forged instrument, scheme to defraud, unlawful possession of a skimmer device and unlawful possession of personal identification information, it is also believed he is in this country illegally…”

The Bethlehem Police Department raided the Golden Town Buffet Monday morning in connection with an identity theft investigation.  The restaurant is located at 385 Route 9W in Glenmont.

According to the department, customers credit card and debit card information was compromised after they ate at the restaurant sometime between June 14th and August 5th.  Bethlehem Police are asking anyone who used their card at the restaurant during that time frame to check their bank statements and immediately report any fraudulent transactions to their respective bank and local law enforcement agency as soon as possible.

The Bethlehem Police are being assisted in this investigation by the Albany Police, Colonie Police, New York State Police New Scotland, New York State Police Clifton Park, East Greenbush Police, US Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security.

Li was arraigned in the Town of Bethlehem Justice Court on Monday evening and remanded to the Albany County Jail without bail.  He is due back in court on Thursday.

For more:  http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/features/top-story/stories/police-golden-town-buffet-customers-credit-debit-card-information-stolen-10092.shtml

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by | July 31, 2013 · 5:53 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Florida Hotel Manager Charged With Stealing Over $42,000; Diverted Company Charges To Personal Account

“…According to court documents, (the defendant) ran a scheme in which she made various charges from the company account into six of her Hotel Employee Theftpersonal accounts…part of her duties included checking guests into the hotel and processing cash and credit card payments…from early 2009 to late 2010, authorities say she diverted $42,954.32 from the company account…”

A former employee of a Tallahassee hotel is facing charges she stole more than $42,000 from the business by diverting money onto personal credit cards. Chyrell Martin, 33, a former front desk clerk and manager at the Collegiate Village Inn was booked into Leon County jail on Monday. Martin, of Georgia, is facing charges of grand theft and fraud to obtain property.

Martin, who worked as a manager at the hotel from 2005 to 2010, resigned suddenly in Oct. 2010 after the investigation into the irregularities on the company account began, according to court documents.

She is currently in Leon County jail.

For more:  http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20130730/NEWS/130730007/

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by | July 26, 2013 · 5:48 am

Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: Vermont Motel Employee Charged With “Felony Embezzlement” After Stealing $220,000; Cashed Fraudulent Checks In Another Town To Escape Attention

“…(the defendant) is accused of using her position as the part-time bookkeeper for the Shire Riverview motel to divert over $220,000 to her personal use, primarily through a series of checks that were made out to herself and through electronic payments of her own household bills Hotel Employee Theftdirectly from the inn’s bank account…Although the Inn had a computerized QuickBooks system that the DiCarlos said they reviewed periodically, Dorothy DiCarlo wrote that Smith appeared to have defeated it by entering “phony bills” from companies that the inn routinely did business with, paying them, and then at the last moment changing the business name on the payee line of the checks to her name.  DiCarlo said Smith appeared to have cashed all of the fraudulent checks using a night deposit box at a branch of their bank in another town so as not to bring the unusual checks to the attention of the Woodstock branch which she said might have been quicker to catch the discrepancies…”

A Woodstock woman entered an innocent plea to a single felony count of embezzlement Thursday afternoon before being released from the Windsor County Courthouse in downtown White River Junction on personal recognizance conditions.

Shire Riverview owner Dorothy DiCarlo said she never suspected Smith and instead stumbled on the alleged thefts after she returned from vacation in late March and she was surprised by how low the balances were in the Inn’s operational account. DiCarlo wrote in her statement to police that she started flipping through checks to see what was going on and the very first one she happened to look at was made out directly to Smith for $2,400.

DiCarlo said when she asked Smith why she would need to write a check to herself Smith would not answer her directly and instead kept saying, “I will take responsibility for that check.”

Concerned, DiCarlo said she and her husband Vincent began looking through their business records that evening and quickly found over $50,000 in suspect payments to Smith and to her personal creditors for things like her home cable, propane, and phone bills that appeared to have been paid electronically from the Inn’s bank accounts.

For more:  http://www.thevermontstandard.com/2013/07/motels-ex-bookkeeper-pleads-not-guilty-to-embezzlement/

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by | July 19, 2013 · 6:26 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Risks: Hotel Wi-Fi And LAN Networks Remain Vulnerable To Being Hijacked

“Whether it’s paid or not, whether there’s a password involved or not, nearly all of them are completely unsecure,” he said. “The reason that Wi-mobile technologyFi hotspots put passwords on their Wi-Fi is not to protect the individual, but rather to limit usage…LAN technology evolved years ago for use within organizations where security was never thought to be a major issue. The result is that most of today’s LANs can be hijacked, and all communication can be easily captured and stored on an unseen laptop.”

Private Communications Corp., a Connecticut-based digital-security company, reports that more than half of the 24 million Wi-Fi networks thought to exist worldwide are unencrypted, meaning they’re effectively open to anyone within radio range.

That statistic is particularly alarming when juxtaposed with another from the same company: In the United States, an estimated 43 million people use Wi-Fi hotspots to conduct personal or professional business.

Lawson said travelers should be wary even when connecting directly to a local area network, or LAN, offered by, say, a big-name hotel.

For more:  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2013/07/14/on-vacation-your-hotel-wi-fi-might-be-vulnerable-to-hacker.html

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by | July 16, 2013 · 4:34 am

Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: Florida Hotel Employee Arrested In “Fraudulent Overbilling” Scheme; Over $220,000 In Orders And Fake Bids

“…(the defendant) used her job with the hotel’s management team to allow her husband — who owns two supply firms that outfitted the hotel with items like wallpaper, tiles and carpeting — to overbill for more supplies than were actually ordered….(she) was in charge of purchase Hotel Employee Theftorders for the hotel, and inspected guest rooms for damages to determine what needed replacing…the two went as far as concealing their relationship so as not to arouse suspicion from co-workers or auditors. The 22-page arrest affidavit also claims the couple produced fake bids so it appeared Jorge Maquilon’s companies, Decomax and Emporium Supplies, were the best supply source for the airport hotel. In some instances, the affidavit says, Jorge Maquilon ordered supplies — primarily wallpaper — that the hotel had four years’ worth of in storage…”

A husband and wife hired to oversee the purchase of supplies at the Miami International Airport Hotel were arrested Monday, accused of bilking Miami-Dade County out of $222,000 by jacking up prices and lying about the quantities of items purchased.

Jorge Isaac Maquilon and his wife, hotel employee Ivy Evans-Maquilon, both 54, were taken into custody by Miami-Dade police and charged with a single count of organized fraud and two counts of grand theft. Peruvian nationals, both were required to turn in their passports. They were behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center late Monday afternoon, with bond set at $60,000 each.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/15/3501584/arrests-made-in-overbilling-probe.html#storylink=cpy

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by | July 10, 2013 · 12:00 pm

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Florida Hotel Guest Room Thief Arrest Assisted By Surveillance Camera Footage; Followed Housekeepers Into Rooms To Steal Cash, Personal Property

“…(the defendant) walked into a room that a maid was cleaning, flashing a hotel card and telling the maid that it was his mother’s Hotel Room Theftroom…after the maid finished and left, Johnson took off with $1,800 in cash, $10,000 in jewelry, an iPad and Chanel purse…Miami Beach Police caught a break when they obtained hotel security camera footage of the suspect leaving the building…”

Miami Beach Police arrested a suspect Thursday in a month-old burglary case, only to find that he was wanted by six other police departments and was responsible – by his own admission – for 14 other burglaries in Miami Beach alone. Johnson, of Miami Gardens, was brought in for questioning in connection with a June 8 burglary at the Miami Beach Resort and Spa Hotel where $20,000 in cash, jewelry, and electronics were stolen.

The room’s actual residents, Brazilian tourists Aparecida Pata, 58, and Denize Ferreira, 73, returned from breakfast to find their room ransacked.

After he was arrested and read his Miranda rights, Johnson confessed to the other burglaries.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/04/3485443/man-arrested-in-beach-hotel-theft.html#storylink=cpy

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by | June 29, 2013 · 6:00 am

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: Massachusetts Hotel Manager Charged With Stealing Over $300,000 Over Two Years; Created Fake Employees And Cashed Checks

“…the fake employees would appear on the payroll and receive a paycheck.  Anjanel would then ask another person to cash the checks and that Hotel Employee Theftperson would give all of the money to the defendant…Anjanel would also wire the money to Guatemala, using her own name and also asking others whom she knew to wire the money on her behalf…Over the two year period, Anjanel stole more than $300,000 from the two hotels…”

A Lawrence woman was arraigned Friday on larceny charges for allegedly stealing more than $300,000 from two hotels where she worked as a manager, according to a release from Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

Authorities allege that in 2010 when Anjanel was working as the manager of the Residence Inn at 1775 Andover Street in Tewksbury, she was responsible for and had access to hotel finances including payroll and petty cash, as well as the authority to make hiring decisions.

According to the release, Anjanel used her responsibilities as manager to add three employees to the hotel’s payroll. These employees were never on the schedule, and never actually worked at the hotel, according to the release.

For more:  http://tewksbury.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/hotel-manager-charged-with-stealing-from-tewksbury-hotel

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