Expense Fraud | Misuse of Expense Claims

There are numerous forms of employee fraud against employers, the investigation of which falls within the services of the Kurtz Detective Agency Mannheim and Rhine-Neckar. Expense claim fraud—often committed in conjunction with timesheet fraud—is among the most common. Our IHK-certified commercial investigators will be pleased to verify your suspicion: +49 621 9535 4001.

Misuse of the Expense Account

A healthy degree of scepticism is certainly not a disadvantage when dealing with employees. Due to insufficient oversight, many employees find it easy to inflict financial damage on their employer—usually to their own benefit. This is also true for expense claim abuse, which is predominantly committed by field staff. By nature, they cannot be monitored as effectively as office-based employees; they have greater freedom. This tempts some to manipulate their expense accounts by charging private purchases to the company or by falsifying or altering receipts (e.g., fuel and postage receipts, invoices for vehicle repairs, hotel stays, restaurant visits, etc.).

The longer such an employee is allowed to act unchecked, the more the losses accumulate. Early intervention by our commercial investigation unit in Mannheim not only prevents excessive misuse by the individual under investigation, but also serves as an effective deterrent for others in the workforce. The farther a field employee operates from the company, the easier it typically is for them to deceive their employer. Our experienced business investigators can prove expense fraud not only in Rhine-Neckar cities such as Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen, but nationwide—and even worldwide. We will gladly advise you, without obligation, on the possible operational scope. Please use our contact form for your enquiry or contact our detective office by telephone.

The Sweet Temptation and the (Seemingly) Low Risk

As an employer, you must rely on the information provided by your field representative if you wish to know how many clients they visited, with whom they allegedly dined on the company account, what routes they travelled, and whether related fuel and hotel costs were genuinely incurred. Beyond this, you have very limited means of verifying the truthfulness of their statements from afar. The employee holds dangerous—and tempting—power, and many in this line of work struggle to resist exploiting the lack of oversight for personal gain at the employer’s expense.

However, companies are by no means powerless: If you suspect that one of your employees is claiming more expenses than were actually incurred, our private investigators for the Rhine-Neckar region are your competent points of contact. We document the findings of our investigations in a meticulous, standardised, and court-admissible evidentiary report. Please send an email with a description of your case to kontakt@kurtz-detektei-mannheim.de or call us for a non-binding initial consultation: +49 621 9535 4001.