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Wait wait wait... WHO did *WHAT*?! (long)

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  • Wait wait wait... WHO did *WHAT*?! (long)

    Hi everyone. I haven't posted in a while, largely because all the weirdness is fading into the background noise of everyday cab driving -- and also because nothing really out of the ordinary has happened for a while... until the past few weeks.

    In the very recent past -- at some point during the week leading up to Halloween, most likely -- Big Green Cab Company got robbed. And I don't mean some guy in a mask holding a gun to a cashier and demanding the contents of her drawer, I mean robbed to the tune of 6 figures.

    That's pretty bad, since that money was earmarked for paying drivers (we had issues getting paid for about a week, give or take) but it gets worse.

    It looks like one of our mid-level managers (let's call him "Bob") did it. And that's the point that makes me want to cry. (Seriously. I'm fighting them again right now.)

    I just found out today the how and at least some of the why. It turns out that the money was taken from multiple safes at some after-hours time. This immediately cuts the suspects down to 4 people. Bob has a few felony convictions from the late 80's and earlier, so of course he was the first one that was investigated.

    Now, Bob is a great guy. Friendly, funny, hard worker, he helped me personally out of a number of serious jams, and I'm sure that every driver we have could say the same. Those felonies don't really matter to any of us -- hell, I doubt 1% of the drivers even know about them.

    So, what kind of evidence indicates Bob did the dirty deed? In an effort to find out if any truth was coming out of the rumor mill, I spoke with another manager roughly on the same level as Bob (and, not coincidentally, a close friend of his) -- we'll call him "George". George saw the security camera footage after the robbery. According to him, the 2 people involved were very careful to disguise themselves -- he didn't go into detail (and even if he had I wouldn't post such info) but it was clear that simple picture identification wouldn't work.

    However, without making a continual conscious effort, nobody can hide the way they walk, the way they move, those million little mannerisms that are unique to an individual. (Well... to some extent. There are people who recognize me as my father's son just by the way I walk. But I digress.)

    Apparently, one of the people in the security footage moved and acted a lot like Bob. Enough so that it's probably going to be part of the evidence when this goes to court.

    There are other things that point at Bob being the culprit, but the 2 most damning ones are 1) a large sum of cash (about 1/3 of the total amount taken) was found buried in his yard, and 2) Bob started making a number of financial transactions that were out of character involving non-trivial amounts of cash.

    I'm pretty upset with this. It's so out of character for the Bob that I know. I won't use the word "impossible", but I find it so unlikely... I don't know what to say. I keep thinking that somebody has somehow framed Bob for some reason. (Yes, I know, naive.)

    Bob's office has been empty for more than 2 weeks now. Every time I see that closed door it makes me sad. All of my driver friends and everyone at the company hopes that it's not Bob. We all hope that if it was him, that he was somehow forced to cooperate by someone else. We're all worried that it was indeed him, acting on his own motivation. :-(

    Bob's superior in the company has tapped George to replace Bob, but corporate has put a hold on that (for reasons that have nothing to do with Bob or George) so things are remaining status quo for the moment, with Bob's work being split between George, another manager, and Bob's equivalent at another location -- and while George is a pleasant enough fellow, he'll have a hard time filling Bob's shoes.

    (And before anyone asks, I have no idea who the other person involved in the robbery is. The subject didn't come up, and I didn't ask.)
    Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you speak with the Fraud department. -- CrazedClerkthe2nd
    OW! Rolled my eyes too hard, saw my brain. -- Seanette
    she seems to top me in crazy, and I'm enough crazy for my family. -- Cooper
    Yes, I am evil. What's your point? -- Jester

  • #2
    Just...wow...

    Hope things work out well for you and your co-workers.

    Comment


    • #3
      Assuming Bob did in fact do it, sometimes bad behavior re-asserts itself, and I wonder if he developed (or relapsed into) some form of addiction, be it gambling or a chemical substance and he had to pay back debts related to that. I'm sorry you're going through this. The only advice I have is spend some time journaling to help get your thoughts in order, and try to remember sometimes good people made bad choices.
      "I try to be curious about everything, even things that don't interest me." -Alex Trebek

      Comment


      • #4
        The whole thing sounds pretty awful. But sometimes nice guys are criminals too. I hope you all get paid.

        Comment


        • #5
          Quoth WishfulSpirit View Post
          Assuming Bob did in fact do it, sometimes bad behavior re-asserts itself, and I wonder if he developed (or relapsed into) some form of addiction, be it gambling or a chemical substance and he had to pay back debts related to that.
          I was thinking the same thing. There is a really sweet guy working for my parents, who has terrible addiction problems. With everything. Drugs, alcohol, gambling. But he has worked for them for over 10 years with no issues. Long story short, he pretty much relapsed, and my parents have kept him on as an employee, but had to take away any responsibilities he had. He can't even drive company vehicles. It's really sad because we all like him, and we didn't want to believe it. They should probably fire him, but they're so loyal, and he hasn't flat out stolen or anything.

          Anyways, it's so similar to how you feel about Bob, and it does suck.
          Replace anger management with stupidity management.

          Comment


          • #6
            Quoth WishfulSpirit View Post
            Assuming Bob did in fact do it, sometimes bad behavior re-asserts itself, and I wonder if he developed (or relapsed into) some form of addiction, be it gambling or a chemical substance and he had to pay back debts related to that. I'm sorry you're going through this. The only advice I have is spend some time journaling to help get your thoughts in order, and try to remember sometimes good people made bad choices.
            Journaling, of any kind, has never really been my thing. My thoughts are fairly well in order about this, I think -- I'm just upset about it.

            But this isn't the first time I've run into "good people making bad choices", not by leaps and bounds.

            Quoth Shyla View Post
            The whole thing sounds pretty awful. But sometimes nice guys are criminals too. I hope you all get paid.
            We did, eventually, but there were a few days where it was a case of "the cash office is out of money, try again tomorrow."

            Quoth notalwaysright View Post
            I was thinking the same thing. There is a really sweet guy working for my parents, who has terrible addiction problems. With everything. Drugs, alcohol, gambling. But he has worked for them for over 10 years with no issues. Long story short, he pretty much relapsed, and my parents have kept him on as an employee, but had to take away any responsibilities he had. He can't even drive company vehicles. It's really sad because we all like him, and we didn't want to believe it. They should probably fire him, but they're so loyal, and he hasn't flat out stolen or anything.

            Anyways, it's so similar to how you feel about Bob, and it does suck.
            Wow, that does suck. But at least your parents are trying to take care of the guy -- my company basically threw Bob under the bus.

            Something that I didn't mention: like many companies, the folks at Big Green Cab Co are like a large family. While I was talking with George, he told me that if Bob had just asked "Gary", the president/CEO/founder/owner/etc, Gary would almost certainly have just cut Bob a check for the amount that was stolen. (Gary is very, very wealthy, thanks to a series of good biz decision involving Big Green Cab Co.)
            Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you speak with the Fraud department. -- CrazedClerkthe2nd
            OW! Rolled my eyes too hard, saw my brain. -- Seanette
            she seems to top me in crazy, and I'm enough crazy for my family. -- Cooper
            Yes, I am evil. What's your point? -- Jester

            Comment


            • #7
              I would almost be willing to bet that if Bob did it, there is something serious behind it. He had a good thing going with a decent job and people who liked and respected him. You don't throw that away for nothing. Could be opiate or gambling addiction, could be some family thing that he desperately needs money for, or previous debts that have caught up with him. Whatever happens, if he needs help I hope he gets it, and I hope you and your CW's will be okay.
              When you start at zero, everything's progress.

              Comment


              • #8
                Quoth MoonCat View Post
                I would almost be willing to bet that if Bob did it, there is something serious behind it. He had a good thing going with a decent job and people who liked and respected him. You don't throw that away for nothing. Could be opiate or gambling addiction, could be some family thing that he desperately needs money for, or previous debts that have caught up with him. Whatever happens, if he needs help I hope he gets it, and I hope you and your CW's will be okay.
                I'm afraid it's going to turn out to be a case of "you can take the criminal out of jail, but you can't take jail out of the prisoner" -- or something stupid like that.
                Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you speak with the Fraud department. -- CrazedClerkthe2nd
                OW! Rolled my eyes too hard, saw my brain. -- Seanette
                she seems to top me in crazy, and I'm enough crazy for my family. -- Cooper
                Yes, I am evil. What's your point? -- Jester

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth Deserted View Post
                  Wow, that does suck. But at least your parents are trying to take care of the guy -- my company basically threw Bob under the bus.
                  To be fair, he didn't give the company much choice. It sounds like the other guy came apart gradually while Bob basically went the thermo-nuclear meltdown route. Sad.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth Aria View Post
                    To be fair, he didn't give the company much choice. It sounds like the other guy came apart gradually while Bob basically went the thermo-nuclear meltdown route. Sad.
                    Very. I don't have any more info on "Bob", and I'm just going to try to let it go... but things just aren't the same. I was back in "George's" office yesterday, and like I said before, nice enough, but...
                    Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you speak with the Fraud department. -- CrazedClerkthe2nd
                    OW! Rolled my eyes too hard, saw my brain. -- Seanette
                    she seems to top me in crazy, and I'm enough crazy for my family. -- Cooper
                    Yes, I am evil. What's your point? -- Jester

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Sadly, every thief I've run into at work has been nurturing, funny and helpful to everyone. Always. There was always a trail of sad, disappointed people saying, "I can't believe it," or "She was the first manager who really understand us."

                      It's called a "con artist" not because he's a convict, it's short for "confidence man."

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Quoth Deserted View Post
                        Something that I didn't mention: like many companies, the folks at Big Green Cab Co are like a large family. While I was talking with George, he told me that if Bob had just asked "Gary", the president/CEO/founder/owner/etc, Gary would almost certainly have just cut Bob a check for the amount that was stolen. (Gary is very, very wealthy, thanks to a series of good biz decision involving Big Green Cab Co.)
                        If he is so wealthy, why did everyone have to wait to get paid?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth alogram View Post
                          If he is so wealthy, why did everyone have to wait to get paid?
                          I think that the money needs to be tracked for tax purposes. He could pay them under the table if need be, though.

                          In fact, I'd be surprised if I went to my bank and suddenly found a million dollars in my chequing account.
                          cindybubbles (👧 ❤️ 🎂 )

                          Enter Cindyland here!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Quoth alogram View Post
                            If he is so wealthy, why did everyone have to wait to get paid?
                            Big Green Cab Co is a corporation, and has been for some time. "Gary's" money is not the corporation's money, regardless of the fact that he and his wife made the company what it is.

                            But I'm not privy to the decisions that were made. Maybe Gary offered the board a short-term loan and they refused... maybe the board asked him for a loan and he refused... maybe the subject never came up, I don't know. But the cab industry has such a high cash flow that it was definitely a short-term problem.

                            (Also, let's not forget that many corporations aren't known for reacting to problems quickly. Bureaucrats tend to favor the CYA approach to everything.)

                            Quoth cindybubbles View Post
                            I think that the money needs to be tracked for tax purposes. He could pay them under the table if need be, though.
                            Possible, but unlikely. "Gary" does things in a strictly above-board, totally legal manner, and the company follows suit.

                            Quoth cindybubbles View Post
                            In fact, I'd be surprised if I went to my bank and suddenly found a million dollars in my chequing account.
                            No comment.
                            Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you speak with the Fraud department. -- CrazedClerkthe2nd
                            OW! Rolled my eyes too hard, saw my brain. -- Seanette
                            she seems to top me in crazy, and I'm enough crazy for my family. -- Cooper
                            Yes, I am evil. What's your point? -- Jester

                            Comment

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