An inside job

For 16 years, Marcia Sinclair was the trusted accounts receivable clerk for Gulf Coast Window Covering in Houston.

Prosecutors say that for the last four of those years, she was an embezzler.

If she was, she was darned good. Sinclair is accused of siphoning off $6 million from a company that would never be confused with a Fortune 500 firm.

Stories like this usually reinforce two key lessons:

1) Embezzlers often get caught because they get greedy.

If Sinclair was skimming, she probably could have gotten away with it forever … if she had showed a little restraint. You know, taking just enough not to be noticed, living a modest lifestyle.

Not her. Prosecutors say enjoyed a buying binge that could have satisfied dozens of divas. We’re talking goodies like more than 100 rings, 12 pairs of $2,000 shoes and “tons of clothes.” And the amazing total of 61 pairs of designer sunglasses. With cases.

Interesting. And the other lesson? That would be:

2) Crafty embezzlers usually find the right kind of people to work for. People who are, uh, very trusting.

If you were a top official in a modestly-sized business, wouldn’t you notice eventually that millions of dollars in revenues were being diverted?

I guess not.

As one prosecutor told The Houston Chronicle, “It’s another case of a trusted employee stealing from an employer. It’s happened before, and it will happen again.”

I guess it will.