Westminster DMV Bribes: Employee Investigations in Orange County

Going to a local DMV office is quite low on most people's list of favorite activities, especially when a driver's test is involved. No matter how old you are, you can probably remember the nervous anxiety that you felt while filling out your written driver's test. The stakes are high when it comes to a test that determines whether or not you have the freedom to drive.

One DMV employee at the Westminster branch allegedly decided to use these high stakes to make a little bit of extra cash. That extra cash may have just bought him a few years in a correctional facility.

Cash for Driver's Licenses: The Accusations Against Jose Alberto Carrillo

According to DMV officials, Jose Alberto Carrillo accepted cash in exchange for numerous favors relating to driver's tests and records. In May of 2012, DMV investigators reported that Carrillo allegedly accepted $100 to change a DMV customer's failing test result into a passing one. The Orange County Register says that Carillo instructed the customer to go into the bathroom and put the money between paper so that he could avoid detection.

Investigators allege that almost one month later, Carrillo accepted $500 to enter false information into the DMV record system about a customer having a valid United States birth certificate. Carrillo entered the DMV office after business hours to input this information: the customer in question later was issued a driver's license. Carrillo's arraignment will take place next month. He faces up to five years incarceration if convicted.

This story clearly illustrates how prevalent employee theft can be. It can be extraordinarily difficult for any employer to completely prevent their employees from stealing, even a government agency like the Department of Motor Vehicles. Fortunately for business owners and operators, there are a few steps that can be taken to help cut down on employee theft. One of these steps is hiring a private investigator to help you get to the bottom of what is really happening in a workplace.

How a Westminster Private Investigator Can Help Stop Employee Theft

Whether you think theft has been happening for a while or you simply want to make sure that employees aren't committing any misconduct, a private investigator can provide assistance in several ways:

• A pre-employment background check: while a past criminal record isn't always an indicator that someone is stealing, it can help clue you in to what kind of people you are bringing on at your business. Anyone with a history of past crimes relating to stealing or dishonesty is probably not the right person for your company
• Corporate investigation services: depending on how large your organization is and how connected employees are, it's possible that theft could be happening in an area of the business that you are not directly involved in. A private investigator can examine records, collect statements from employees, and use intuition and problem-solving skills to help you get to the bottom of a potential employee theft situation
• Time theft: just because an employee does not take money or goods from a business doesn't mean they are not stealing. Employees can also commit theft by wasting time on the clock, or by having a friend clock in for them when they are not there. Time theft costs an average employer in the U.S. almost six full weeks of an employee's salary: a private investigator can help you find out if your employees aren't working when they are supposed to be
• Compiling a written report to document employee theft: as most employers know, the laws on terminating an employee for misconduct are rigid. They require documentation of the employee's misconduct, often in the form of a record of when and where it happened. A private investigator can help create an ironclad report about employee theft to protect you from any kind of wrongful termination accusations

Nobody can completely stop a determined employee from making some extra bribe money or lifting items in the workplace that belong to their employer. With the right private investigator, however, you can more quickly detect and put an end to these kinds of situations so that your business continues to run smoothly, without suffering the consequences of employee misconduct.