The story is that employees of a armored car service stole almost $3 million over a six year period, collecting money from parking meters for the city of Syracuse. The city now is suing Loomis for the missing money. The city acknowledges that it was remiss in its auditing and has change procedures. They are right about that. From my point of view, the armored car service is just that, a service that you pay very little for. They have a responsibility but not an infinite one.
Mike has this comment:
This is somewhat reminiscent of when, years ago, we identified insufficient controls at Loomis based on statistical variations in our deposit, but in our case we caught them quickly and resolved the apparent theft in a matter of months. Keep a close eye on the audit/deposit comparison and don’t assume that Loomis is on top of things!
Our primary tools are separation of functions, performance of 100% audits with appropriate back-office review, and maintaining all cash and key controls.
Yep – In the end, its the owners responsibility. Just as a parking operator does their best to ensure their staff is perfect, problems do happen. A good outside audit now and then is the best way to ensure all is well.
JVH
