1.5 Million embezzled from Decipher Games

[The Game Guy]

According to this article a man who worked for Decipher, who was the owners brother in law embezzled 1.5 million from that.

Damn shame this happened to a good company like Decipher:

http://hamptonroads.com/node/501025

[harmyn]

WOW! :(

While I didn't buy any of their games, they were a solid company with good product and a high standard of quality. Always bad when something like that happens. Doubly so when it is family that does it to you.

And I think this puts Decipher in the lead for companies screwed by employees.

1. Decipher
2. Palladium (?) = Another embezzler. Sort of saved through sales and fundraising drives.
3. Steve Jackson Games = Inept financial/business officer. Saved because SJ stepped back in and again showed he is as shrewd at running his business as he was at designing games.

Were there any others?

[skeloric]

Guardians of Order -- I still dunno what exactly happened there.
HE claimed that the changing exchange rate between Canada and the US caused his profit to vanish overnight, others have insinuated a degree of mismanagement or perhaps malfeasance.
So that's another for the board perhaps.

[Havard]

Sucks, but then I also think they messed up the LotR RPG lisence.

Havard

[hellsreach]

I've no doubt that there was some mismanagement on the part of GoO, just as there are in many small businesses. In the case of most game companies, we walk on a razors edge and are more susceptible to financial glitches than most companies -- our production expenses are often large and very "up front" and our profits, small. In a way we are effectively gambling far more than many businesses, where the investment is smaller or at least results in capital expenditures that can be liquidated to mitigate loss. I think most of the ire for GoO was because they went out of business rapidly and those who had some level of stake in the company (be they employees or customers that had paid for product they did not get) were left holding the bag and no attempt was made to pay or reimburse them.

[Whill]

Sucks, but then I also think they messed up the LotR RPG lisence.

Havard

This is an aweful thing for Decipher. But maybe it's a good thing for the future of the LotR RPG. Perhaps with the Hobbit movies the rights-holders will get another company to make a new RPG. Maybe even a D6 RPG... :cool:

[Cryonic]

Nepotism at work... Want to minimize such things? Don't trust a single person with access. Make it so that someone unrelated is also looking over their shoulder.

Blockbuster, after an attempted theft of about $10k by an employee, requires that two employees take the money from the store to the bank. This makes it harder to steal the money as both would either have to be in on it, or one would have to do something to the other revealing the attempt. Same should be true of Accountants and such.

[harmyn]

Nepotism at work... Want to minimize such things? Don't trust a single person with access. Make it so that someone unrelated is also looking over their shoulder.

Blockbuster, after an attempted theft of about $10k by an employee, requires that two employees take the money from the store to the bank. This makes it harder to steal the money as both would either have to be in on it, or one would have to do something to the other revealing the attempt. Same should be true of Accountants and such.

Agreed mate. In theory whoever authorizes the posting of payments is NOT the same person that signs the checks. Helps to keep down the threat. When I was at the toy store many moons ago we would have the part time associate count down the cash drawer to verify how much money was there and then both employees always took the deposit. Just in case.

[The Game Guy]

I believe though Decipher made more of their money from CCG's and the like and not as much on the role playing game side.

It's sad either way. As Eric said money is razor thin, and a mistake or someone stealing can make things really go bad quickly.