Who is liable?

j999jmp

Hi all,

I have a friend that works for a small company with a credit card machine. Over a period of months he borrowed money from me under the pretence of him not being paid on time. He then repaid me as a refund to my debit card from the works credit card machine. I was told the owner knew about this. Turns out he didn't and I have no been asked to repay these amounts. The employee has been sacked. If I repay I will be obviously out of pocket but do not wish to be part of a fraud? I doubt the ex employee has any intention of repaying either me or the employer.

Any advice greatly accepted

FireWyrm

Unfortunately, willing or not, knowing or not, you are part of the fraud. Frankly, you were breathtakingly naive. If a colleague had told me he was repaying me from the company credit facility and the boss was aware of this, I'd have gone straight to the boss and queried it directly.

Have you tried to even speak to your boss about this? Couldnt you come to some arrangement to either write it off, or reduce it significantly?

Dont go in guns blazing (who is liable etc...), but more along the lines of the dupe who got left holding the bag and this person abused their position of trust (because they would have to have been so, to have access to company funds like that) and you are the least likely to be able to handle this alone.

j999jmp

Yes I agree I was naive. He must have had trust to get use of the refund card. I think I'm just going to have to pay. Some shared responsibility would be a bonus. But the threat of a fraud investigation puts me on the back foot!

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

j999jmp wrote: »

I have a friend...

I suspect that should be an ex-friend.

j999jmp

Fruit_and_Nut_Case wrote: »

I suspect that should be an ex-friend.

Ha, yes definitely ex!

DevCoder

Thanks Spammer Mc Spam From SpamLand

bargainbetty

I would actually seek legal advice on this one, regarding your liability. Technically, the owner of the business should be making a claim against the employee for making the transactions, as he has a duty to mitigate his losses prior to seeking redress from you.

Suggest that he file a claim against his former employee for the return of the funds, and agree a repayment plan with the court's assistance first? Since it was him who suffered the fraud, he is in a far stronger position to obtain a judgement against the thief than you are.

lisyloo

Do you have any free legal advice on your home insurance?
Might be worth checking and then give them a call and speak to a solicitor for advice.

I don't necessarily see you are liable. The employee has stolen from the business to pay you. That's his fault not yours, however I am not a lawyer so its probably bet you speak to one.

Aquamania

j999jmp wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a friend that works for a small company with a credit card machine. Over a period of months he borrowed money from me under the pretence of him not being paid on time. He then repaid me as a refund to my debit card from the works credit card machine. I was told the owner knew about this. Turns out he didn't and I have no been asked to repay these amounts. The employee has been sacked. If I repay I will be obviously out of pocket but do not wish to be part of a fraud? I doubt the ex employee has any intention of repaying either me or the employer.

Any advice greatly accepted

What I struggle to understand with this arrangement is why you ever got involved in the first place.

If the employee was not paid, and the employer was supposed to have authorised the debit card refunds, why did the employee not just refund his own debit card with the money owed??? :huh:

agrinnall

Aquamania wrote: »

What I struggle to understand with this arrangement is why you ever got involved in the first place.

If the employee was not paid, and the employer was supposed to have authorised the debit card refunds, why did the employee not just refund his own debit card with the money owed??? :huh:

Presumably because the repayments happened some time after the loans were given.

zerog

Aquamania wrote: »

why did the employee not just refund his own debit card with the money owed??? :huh:

Because he was lying and hoped he wouldn't get caught...?