MrsFychan

in posting and replying

for the last 6+ weeks my work has gone from 15 odd hours a week to over 60+.
General manager of the firm had a holiday, all well and good was meant to be for 2 weeks, fine with that but then owner came in just before he returned, removed the office stuff and all the equipment and asked if company could run from my house for now.
Seems General managed had his hands in the till and was ripping the Company of to a tune of thousands.
Guess what though as it was coming from business payments the Company has to pay GST on it despite not seeing any of the money, the General Manager was allowed to resign so he gets a paid notice period whilst doing no work. Company can't really afford to prosecute for his stealing as it would have to pay back GST on any more discoveries of payments not making it to the books.
HOW is this fair?? Oh and said Manager has already got another job so he is literally laughing all the way to the bank. Really HOW is this fair??
Honest people doing honest days work

bourbon-biscuit

This is the "real estate business", no?

MrsFychan

no not done that for over a year.
I am an Office Administrator supposed to do paperwork, invoicing and pay role from work created. as I said 15 hours a week now 60+ its just the unfairness of how someone can steal from a company and its the company and the employees left that carry the burden and possibly lose their livelihoods.

LittleGreyCat

Prosecute and sue to cover losses?

It isn't fair if the owner is scared to prosecute but that is part of the responsibility of the owner. Cup of concrete time.

garethwm

Is there a reason why the owner isnt reporting the manager to the police? That shouldnt cost anything. From what you have written it sounds like a criminal case.

MrsFychan

if they uncover the amount stolen the company has to pay GST on it. Its cost nearly 20k just to get rid of the thieving git. Its a small company and has practically been wiped out. His mismanagement and theft has left the coffers practically empty. The owner wants to keep going and keep the employees in work but it just seems the law is not on the side of those wanting to do right.
The threat of the police was the only reason he offered to resign as he was actually going for unfair dismissal.

I have not been so close to this sort of thing before and it is heartbreaking. I was working in a company back in the UK many moons ago and some employees where inside trading and I know they got the full force of the law heaped on them, but I guess being a bigger company it could take the financial hit to persecute.

Charismatic

Tut tut, expenses and extravagant remuneration are generally executive level privileges.

MrsFychan

well here I am 12.20am, can't sleep so may as well work....

LittleGreyCat

Bad place to be, at the moment. Sympathy.

I think the thing that grates with people not directly involved is that this person will probably keep doing the same thing until prosecuted.

LoCarb

New Zealand is a small place. His reputation will proceed him....eventually.

I know as I worked in a business where the previous manager had done a similar thing...twice.
The third time he went for a job he wasn't so lucky, they were on to him.

simonsi

Actually sounds like the owner is now effectively colluding with the thief to avoid GST payments which is an offence in its own right and likely to come back and haunt the owner.

BEVS

Yup. It is fraud.

I know you may wish to keep this work but I feel you should step far, far away. Certainly not be running any part of this business from your own home.

From what is written it may well be these two people have a further 'private' arrangement . One which involves no paper trail.

simonsi

and find out whether your company is using the Payments or Invoice basis, I'd suspect any sensible small company is using Payments basis which means the GST is only due when the payment is received, if the payment was diverted (as you say they didn't see the money and "if the amount is uncovered..."), then payment hasn't been received and GST isn't due. The business owner then needs some proper advice (or some better advice).

In any event, IRD are normally very sympathetic to genuine, correctly documented and reported crime...

As BEVS says, be VERY cautious about being implicated directly or indirectly or by omission - if this goes pear-shaped then collusion can be assumed to be widespread by the authorities and you may have a difficult time demonstrating your innocence.

Bo-Jangles

I can't imagine how he might have created legit sales and GST liability for the owner but I guess it would come down to technicalities of the principal / agency contractual relationship and how he has obtained the money.

Assuming the guy has misled customers into thinking that he was acting on behalf of the company and has been doing jobs for cash in hand that he clearly wasn't authorised to do or without the owners best interest at heart, I doubt there would be much comeback to the owner.

simonsi

Agreed on both points.