种种迹象表明，员工盗窃和挪用公款在当今的商业经济中十分猖獗。为了保护自己免受不断上升的盗窃和挪用公款，雇主需要使用他们可以使用的所有工具，包括犯罪背景调查。

根据分析师 Marquet International Ltd. 的《2012 年贪污报告》，2012 年是市政和企业贪污问题的“重磅之年”。研究中包括的 528 起重大贪污案件的平均损失为 140 万美元。

该研究还揭示了其他事实，该研究还比较了 5 年积压的贪污案件的数据，包括一些关于性别的有趣观点。至少在大范围内，女性比男性更容易贪污。然而，当男性确实决定挪用大量资金时，他们偷窃的金额远远超过女性。

该研究还发现，在盗窃 100,000 美元以上的挪用公款中，只有不到 5% 的人有过刑事定罪。这给雇主带来了问题。如果这些人没有犯罪记录，那么背景调查可能不会对 95% 的这些未来犯罪分子发出任何危险信号，并且他们会毫无保留地被雇用。

然而，通过深入研究，员工可能会发现证据支持使用信用检查作为筛选最终可能转向盗窃或挪用公款的求职者的一种手段。信用报告，就像 backgroundchecks.com 提供的一样，可以揭示求职者生活中潜在的财务压力来源。由于 Marquet 的研究表明，赌债在许多备受瞩目的挪用公款案件中发挥作用，因此检测财务压力源可用于预测潜在的挪用公款风险是有道理的。

虽然一些州限制使用信用检查，但普遍认为信用检查对于财务历史与工作职责有直接关系的任何职位都是允许的。例如，金融行业的人或将在非营利公司掌管钱包的人都需要表现出明智地管理资金的能力。

Marquet 的研究发现，金融机构被盗用的频率最高，最常见的盗用方法是伪造或未经授权的支票。换言之，大多数引人注目的挪用公款案件都涉及财务职位或容易获得资金。人们不禁要问，如果对所有相关员工进行信用检查，Marquet 研究中包含的贪污犯罪有多少是可以避免的。

展望未来，Marquet 的研究预测，随着员工努力应对该国持续的经济困境，挪用公款的趋势将继续上升。40 岁以上的员工被视为一种特殊的风险，因为他们可能正在考虑用不义之财来充实他们的退休基金。爱荷华州、夏威夷州、内华达州、怀俄明州和伊利诺伊州被确定为大规模挪用公款的最高风险。

挪用公款不仅仅是大企业的问题。小型企业和非营利组织也应该密切关注员工盗窃，并使用他们可以使用的一切工具来尝试雇佣他们能找到的最好、最诚实的员工，特别是对于财务责任职位。

By all indications, employee theft and embezzlement is thriving in today’s business economy. In order to protect themselves from rising rates of theft and embezzlement, employers need to use every tool at their disposal, including criminal background checks.

According to the 2012 Report on Embezzlement from analyst Marquet International Ltd., 2012 was a “blockbuster year” in terms of municipal and corporate embezzlement. The average loss in the 528 major embezzlement cases included in the study was $1.4 million dollars.

Other facts revealed by the study, which also compared data from a 5-year backlog of embezzlement cases, include some interesting points about gender. Women are more likely to embezzle than men, at least on a large scale. Yet when men do decide to embezzle large amounts, the amount they steal far outstrips that of women.

The study also found that fewer than 5 percent of embezzlers stealing over $100,000 had prior criminal convictions. This poses a problem for employers. If these individuals had no criminal convictions, presumably a background check would not have returned any red flags on 95 percent of these future criminals, and they would have been hired with no reservations whatsoever.

However, by digging deeper into the study, employees may find evidence to support the use of credit checks as a means of screening out job applicants who may eventually turn to theft or embezzlement. Credit reports, like those offered by backgroundchecks.com, can reveal potential sources of financial stress in a job applicant’s life. Since the Marquet study revealed that gambling debts come into play in many high-profile embezzlement cases, it stands to reason that detecting financial stressors can be useful in predicting potential embezzlement risks.

While some states restrict the use of credit checks, it is generally agreed that credit checks are permissible for any position where financial history has a direct bearing on the job responsibilities. For example, someone in the finance industry or someone who will hold the purse strings at a non-profit company both need to demonstrate an ability to manage money wisely.

The Marquet study found that financial institutions suffer the highest frequency of embezzlement, and the most common method of embezzlement is forged or unauthorized checks. In other words, most high-profile embezzlement cases involve employees in financial positions or with easy access to money. One has to wonder how many of the embezzlement crimes included in the Marquet study could have been prevented had credit checks been run on all of the employees involved.

Going forward, the Marquet study predicts that embezzlement trends will continue to rise as employees struggle to cope with continuing economic distress in the country. Employees over 40 are seen as a particular risk because they may be contemplating padding their retirement funds with ill-gotten gains. The states of Iowa, Hawaii, Nevada, Wyoming, and Illinois were identified as being at the highest risk for large-scale embezzlement.

Embezzlement isn’t just a concern for big businesses. Small businesses and non-profits should also keep a close eye out for employee theft, and use every tool at their disposal to try to hire the best, most honest employees they can find, particularly for positions of financial responsibility.