Expense, Billing and Travel Cost Fraud

The relationship between an employing company and its field staff, drivers, external contractors, and other employees is based on trust. The lack of supervision and the relative independence of these occupational groups sometimes tempt individuals to charge private expenses to the company – for instance, repairs to a daughter’s car billed via the company vehicle, trips to visit a grandmother, or a romantic dinner claimed as a business meal. Yet these examples are often only the tip of the iceberg. Matters become much worse when the assigned work is carried out incompletely or not at all, but still fully invoiced.

Loss of Revenue Through Work Not Performed

In addition to the submission of inflated expense claims for travel, hospitality, accommodation, and so forth, our Stuttgart detectives repeatedly observe field employees who do not perform their duties at all and fabricate every item on their expense statements. One such employee might leave home for the first time at 11:00, drive 200 metres in the company car to the bakery, return home, head out again a few hours later to do some shopping, and finally arrive punctually for the 17:00 film screening at the cinema. On his work record, however, he notes a start time of 07:00, claims to have attended various appointments without a lunch break until 18:00, and states that he was back in his vehicle ready for duty at 07:00 the following morning.

 

In relationships based on trust, such audacity sometimes goes unnoticed for months or even years. The financial damage to the company is enormous; the total loss can scarcely be quantified afterwards and can therefore only be reclaimed from the perpetrator to a limited extent. These activities constitute clear fraud (§ 263 of the German Criminal Code), more specifically billing fraud – a criminal offence punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment and one that causes lasting harm to the employer.

IHK-Certified Specialist Detectives for Fraud Investigation

If you believe you have become a victim of billing fraud, the corporate investigators of Kurtz Detective Agency Stuttgart can assist you. We conduct enquiries within the suspect’s environment and, where appropriate, carry out surveillance to provide you with certainty. Kurtz Investigations Stuttgart looks forward to your call: +49 711 7153 0028.

A man sits in a cinema wearing 3D glasses and eating popcorn, with other visitors in the background; Kurtz Detective Agency Stuttgart, Detective Stuttgart, Corporate Investigation Agency Stuttgart, Private Investigator Stuttgart.

A cheerful afternoon at the cinema during working hours and thus at the employer’s expense – an actual incident that occurred during a surveillance operation by Kurtz Detective Agency Stuttgart.