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What would you do?

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paulakea | 15:50 Thu 23rd Nov 2006 | Law
13 Answers
I am in charge of the lottery syndicate at work.
I collect �12 each week and put �6 on a sat and �6 on a wed.
Our winnings are put in the safe in another office.
�75 has gone missing out of the safe and my colleagues are behaving weird with me as if its my fault.
I have offered to pay the money back and hope it turns up and i feel responsible.
It has been reported to audit and we will all be questioned.
However it is not directly linked to work as it is just run in our office.
What could happen?
I feel like i am being singled out by everyone and i dont know what to do, i think its as simple as it has been picked up with sumthing else and will be sat on someones desk but i feel terrible.
Dont know what to do or what may happen :-(
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This should serve as a warning to all involved in this kind of thing. You should open an account requiring two signatures for this kind of thing, that way you can never be held in suspicion. Also, in case of a win, write up a rough contract with everyone signing, or you could end up in court with ex-members suing for non-existent shares...
You need to look into it yourself too. Who has the key/combination to the safe? All those people are suspects too - not just yourself.

Then - Who knew the money was there ?

Who's been in the safe since the money was put there and what for ? That may lead you to a mistake if it's on someones desk.

Why are the winnings put in the safe and not handed out straight away ?

Unless you have a contract for it all to say you are responsible - don't offer to pay - it might look like you did take it and are offering to pay it back in a round a bout way.

At the end of the day it's theft and offer to report it to the police and see what happens. If it wasn't you then don't accept anyones suggestions or remarks that it might be you. E-mail/write a short note to all involved and tell them that you are looking into it and that everyone with a key/combo is a suspect unless anyone else has anything further to add !!

Good Luck and I do hope it will just turn up.
Question Author
I work in a large building with maybe 200 staff!
The safe is normally locked when no one is in that office.
Whenever i go in the safe is open and they dont ask questions as to what im doing....great eh!!
We have ony won tenners so to share out between 12 people isnt worth it so we keep it for christmas drinks etc!!
a contract is drawn up to say whatever we win is split.
Question Author
What can they do besides interview wveryone, and what could the police do!!
I so want the person to admit if they have it...im going mad :-(
Who noticed the money was missing,how long do you think it has been gone,and who has been in the safe since the last time you knew the right money was there??xx
Question Author
Its been 4 weeks since ive been in there!
Lots of people go in there and my colleague noticed it was missing last week when i wasnt here so i went and looked and couldnt find it either!!
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Question Author
I have little faith in the police, what could they do?!! No proof no nothing, i gonna end up outta pocket anyway!
And open an account to put it in in future!
-- answer removed --
We have a safe in our office, I and the treasurer are the only ones to have the combination, you cannot leave it open during the working day, that is asking for trouble?? Anyone can help themselves and everybody is as guilty as the next person. This is a terrible situation and the police should be called this may oust the culprit but it needs to be addressed to put your name in the clear if nothing else !
I think that if tyou replace the money it will look as though you are guilty. I agree with Zac about the email - say that an amount has been taken between such and such a date and if it is not replaced within 48 hours you will call the Police.Do you think it a bit odd that it was noticed missing when you weren't there??
so you just put the money in the safe loose?
just in with everything else?
and you know its hardly a safe safe?
no wonder it has been mixed in with everything else!!

why didn't you have a separate cashbox with a key?

was is in a separate container?

sorry but i don't blame them being suspicious of you - i cant understand why you'd just bung it in with everything else!!

i suggest getting the police involved - even if they can't do anything, it will prove to the others that it wasnt you as you'd hardly call the police if it was you, would you!
You cannot be held responsible if you weren't there. All these points should be put in an e-mail to everyone.

You can open an account with National Lottery online and one person can be in charge of it linked to their own bank account. That way if it goes missing you know exactly where it's gone. You get e-mailed when you win and you could send everyone the numbers and the e-mail to show it. Anyway that's for future reference. Or a a bank account is another good way but this way doesn't work and if it's happened once it will hapen again when people realise how easy it is.

The safe wasn't - I mean safe and if 200 people are around and it's not normally locked then everyone is undersuspicion. I still say give everyone 48 hours to give it back or the police will be called as it's regarded as theft. It may be a matter of going through the process but it might just weed them out. This may scare the person into putting the money back or leaving it somewhere where someone can find it. Don't whatever you do put the money back yourself. If you were away there is no way it can be you.

Why do you have little faith in the police ? They are who you call when there has been a theft at home so why not at work - it does look like they wouldn't be able to do much - but as soon as everyone in the office sees that there's a uniform asking questions - it becomes very real indeed and at the moment - whoever it is is hoping they wont be found out or another person will be blamed. You need a plan of action - support from someone else at work and communication throughout the office that the matter won't be dropped until the money is found, the police will be called and everyone is a suspect.

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