Uncovering a £70,000 theft by a family member

A family-run engineering business in Rotherham came to us with a situation that was as emotionally fraught as it was financially serious. A family member with more than two decades of service, responsible for the accounts and office management, and a shareholder in the business, was at the centre of suspected financial misconduct. This was not a straightforward fraud investigation. It sat inside close family relationships, a long history of trust, and a person with a history of illness. The business owner needed the truth, and needed it handled in a way that protected the integrity of the process and the dignity of everyone involved.

The employee had managed the accounts alongside an external accountant, with frequent absences due to a history of illness. It was during those absences that discrepancies surfaced. A change of accountant, and a new system to track transactions, brought serious issues to light: missing cash, uncashed cheques, and unauthorised bank transfers. Alongside this sat allegations of drug and alcohol use in the workplace, and the prospect that disability would be raised as mitigation. Every one of these factors carried both legal weight and human sensitivity. A purely transactional investigation risked being unfair, being legally challengeable, or causing lasting harm within a family.

We conducted a meticulous investigation into the financial discrepancies and the wider allegations, gathering evidence and testing it carefully. What set our approach apart was how we held the human complexity alongside the forensic rigour. We remained alert to the health, disability and addiction factors in play, ensuring they were properly weighed rather than dismissed or used to cloud judgement. We managed the family dynamics and power relationships within the process with care, and kept the dignity of everyone involved intact, without ever compromising the integrity or defensibility of the investigation. Trauma-informed practice here did not soften the process. It made it more rigorous, fairer, and harder to challenge.

On the balance of probability, we established that the employee had taken over £70,000 from the business across a three-year period. Despite disability being cited as mitigation, we ensured a watertight, defensible dismissal process was followed throughout. The outcome held. The business was able to reclaim some of the lost funds through insurance, and we provided comprehensive recommendations to strengthen its HR documentation and policies, protecting it against future risk. A painful situation was resolved with clarity, fairness, and care.