Larceny Case

Case Study: Bank Teller Gets Nabbed for Theft In this case, Laura Grove, a newly promoted head teller at Rocky Mountain Bank had been living beyond her and her husband’s means for some time. Laura thought to herself that “she wasn’t getting any richer,” and decided after a night deposit bag went missing and the bank quickly paid up, that it might be worth the risk to nab a couple night deposit bags for herself (Wells, 2014, p. 75). Once Laura followed through with her theft of the night deposit bags, what classified her crime as larceny rather than skimming? The answer lies within the definition of larceny which is a crime that involves “the intentional taking away of an employer’s cash without the consent, and against the will of the employer,”

Ultimately, it was her husband that reported his wife’s activities, that eventually led to her quick arrest. Had this not have happened, there was plenty of evidence that pointed to Laura’s possible involvement. First, she was the only one that broke out into a rash during the interview process that day. This suggests a sign of stress (Wells, 2014, p. 76). Secondly, she was the first one in the bank that morning, well beyond the time the surveillance cameras came on. Furthermore, she had one half of the night depository vault combination (Wells, 2014, p. 76). In addition, the previous bank branch she came from had numerous unexplained shortages of which she was a prime suspect (Wells, 2014, p. 76). Finally, during the interview process, it was clear that the current bank employees did not trust her. Although all of this is circumstantial evidence, it would have led the investigation to suspect

Had the bank done a thorough background check on Laura beforehand, they would have known she had filed bankruptcy earlier that year or at very least of her poor credit prior to her hiring date (Wells, 2014, p. 76). Her poor credit would have been a red flag, a possible indication that her financial pressures made her a high risk when it came to working with money.

Though the reading is a little ambiguous in regards to whether it was a bank branch attached to Rocky Mountain Bank or another bank altogether that Laura transferred in from, prior to her transfer, Laura should have had a background check in regards to her performance at her prior branch. This is especially important if the branch is attached to Rocky Mountain Bank and they suspected her in unexplained shortages at that branch (Wells, 2014, p. 76). A thorough investigation should have been performed before ever transferring her with a