Bizjournals.com reports that employee theft is a devastating problem for many companies. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that employee theft costs businesses $40 billion dollars each year or 10 times more than losses from street crime.

George Patricoff, chief of Fraud and Economic Crimes Division with the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office, said small businesses are more susceptible to crimes such as embezzlement because of the trust factor. Small businesses, such as doctors’ offices, architecture firms and builders, create a family-style environment and the owners inherently trust their staff.

"There is a tendency to trust people because it’s more of a team spirit," he said.

As a result, smaller companies sometimes don’t implement all the safeguards that companies need.

• Whatever happened to “thou shall not steal”?
• How do you handle the tension between trusting and being “taken to the cleaners”?