Employee theft-Inform employer

[SHANP10]

What is the name of your state? CA

I just found out about a large number of thefts from a nearby retail store (a large national chain). These thefts were all done by the retail store employees (all managers) over the past month after the retailer announced that they were closing all of their stores. The merchandise stolen by the 3-4 managers I know of probably exceeds $10,000 so far.

1) I am concerned regarding any legal liability I may have concerning my direct knowledge of the thefts, and what to do about it?

2) Having been a retail business owner myself, I resent the arrogant attitude and unethical actions of these employees. How can I go about informing the retailer regarding these thefts and the responsible individuals? The employees are the store managers so do I need to go to a regional or corporate level? Can I do this anonymously?

 

[Ramoth]

Who are you in relation to the company? An employee? Manager? Customer?

You can certainly contact Corporate HQ, but unless you can provide details, they won't take your complaint seriously. Other than that, you should be sure you haven't received any of the stolen merchandise.

 

[SHANP10]

I have absolutely no relationship to the store and never have.
I know one of the responsible employees (not a friend) who was bragging about it and showed me all of the merchandise they stole. I have not received any stolen merchandise but have been offered it after they realized I was NOT "impressed" with actions.
I have more than substantial details and evidence to prove my allegations.

 

[Ramoth]

Call the corporate office and report what you know. If you feel strongly about this, you can also call the police and report this, although I doubt they'd do anything withour hearing from the store first.

 

[SHANP10]

Thanks for the response...
What do you think about my liability in the matter?

 

[Beth3]

"What do you think about my liability in the matter?" I don't see that you have any. You are aware of a crime that has been committed. You are free to share that information with the injured party (corporate HQ.) Then it's up to them to decide what to do, i.e. report it to the police, do their own investigation, discharge the managers, sue them civilly, etc.

You are not fabricating anything. You have every reason to believe felony theft has occurred.

 

[SHANP10]

After my last post I realized I might have needed to be more specific with my liability question...
Intitially, the purpose for posting my situation was to get advice and/or info regarding the process and expected response in making such a complaint and wether I would just be wasting my time considering the circumstances (as stated by one of the employees::
- the company is going out of business, and
- it is a fairly large national chain and apparently they "expect" this to happen
- the employee (manager) I know, said that they were "...going to receive a bonus if employee theft were kept minimal" <--is this typical?).
- apparently this is happening in all of the other stores also

I don't know how the politics, tax strategies, and IRS games work for such a large company in this situation so I am lost on wether it would be a waste of time?....
That is why I asked if I could do this anonymously...I dont see the point to sticking my neck out to helping a business that wont care.
Finally, the liability question was relative to me choosing to NOT report the crime. In which case I thought I might liable if the individuals do get caught anyway ...does my "silence" make me a "party to the crime" so to speak or ONLY if I received stolen property (which I have not)?
...and...what would you do?
Thanks