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What Should I Do if I Discover There Has Been Embezzlement from My Trust Account?

There are a number of steps that you need to take if you discover there has been an embezzlement from your trust account by one of your staff members. These are offered as suggestions and should not be considered exhaustive:

  1. End the employment of the employee involved
     
  2. Terminate all access by that employee to computer systems, online bank account sites, etc.
     
  3. Report the embezzlement to the county attorney
     
  4. Have a forensic accounting done for the business account and the trust account to determine the precise amount of the shortage, and from which account(s) and to have them reconstruct accurate client sub account ledgers
     
  5. Restore to the trust account any monies improperly taken from that account
     
  6. Implement security and overwatch systems to prevent a recurrence of the embezzlement
     
  7. Report the embezzlement to the Client Security Commission
     
  8. Report the embezzlement to your professional liability carrier and your casualty insurance carrier
     

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