5 Everyday Things You Could Be Doing At Work That May Be Financial Crimes

Most employees go about their daily work routines without realizing they might be inadvertently involving themselves in financial crimes. Companies globally lose about 5% of their revenue annually to employee fraud, so understanding these potential pitfalls isn’t about being paranoid but staying aware.

Here are five everyday workplace activities that could land you in legal trouble.

1. Opening Bank Accounts and Depositing Checks for ‘Convenience’

If asked to open business accounts with your personal information or deposit company checks into personal accounts, you risk money laundering charges—even if done unknowingly.

Red Flags

• If you’re asked to use your personal banking information for business purposes
• If there’s said to be some urgency around avoiding “bank paperwork.”

2. Paying Cash Without Proper Documentation

Cash-only vendor payments might seem justified as saving fees, but criminals launder illegal proceeds through cash-intensive businesses. If that happens, your company—and potentially you personally—could be charged with facilitating financial crimes, even if you had no knowledge of the underlying criminal activity.

Red Flags

• Vendors who refuse any form of payment except cash
• Large cash payments that do not fit the profile of customers
• Lack of proper invoicing or documentation
• Pressure to make payments quickly without normal procurement processes

3. Handling Repetitive Financial Transactions Just Under Reporting Limits

Processing multiple transactions just under $10,000 or splitting larger payments constitutes “structuring” or “smurfing“—intentionally avoiding law enforcement scrutiny.

Red Flags

• Multiple cash deposits are made on the same day across multiple branches or ATMs
• Multiple deposits over several days are made just under the $10,000 threshold limit
• Instructions to “keep transactions small” without a clear business justification

4. Processing Inflated or Suspicious Invoices

Processing inflated invoices or payments to vendors with unclear purposes may facilitate money laundering through over-invoicing schemes.

This can include when a colleague, vendor, or business contact asks you to process payments, transfer funds, or handle financial transactions on their behalf through your company’s systems, often as a claimed “one-time favor” or “helping out a partner.”

Red Flags

• Significant differences between the stated price and the real value of the goods involved in the transactions carried out
• Vendors with unclear business purposes or services
• Pressure to process payments without normal verification procedures

5. Using Company Credit Cards for ‘Temporary’ Personal Expenses

Using company credit cards for personal expenses—even temporarily—constitutes embezzlement, regardless of intent to repay. Federal agencies don’t distinguish between “temporary” use and outright theft when it comes to unauthorized use of company funds.

Red Flags

• Mixing personal and business expenses on company accounts
• Being asked to make personal purchases for executives without proper documentation
• Delays in reimbursement processes that leave personal charges on company accounts
• Pressure to handle “urgent” personal purchases through company channels

The Bottom Line

If you’re ever asked to perform financial transactions that seem unusual, lack proper documentation, or involve patterns designed to avoid normal banking procedures, these are red flags that deserve serious attention.

When in doubt, document everything and consult with your company’s legal department or compliance officer—it’s better to ask uncomfortable questions than to unwittingly become part of a federal investigation.