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Ron Pollard knows the pain of employee theft all too well.

As the retired former owner of a Steamboat Springs real estate agency, he and his colleagues just finished repaying debt associated with a $125,000 office embezzlement that took place almost five years ago.

"When I learned about it, I immediately took $50,000 out of my own retirement funds to help pay for it," Pollard said.

Pollard will take part in an all-day seminar Tuesday on "Retail Theft Prevention" hosted by Colorado Mountain College for small business owners.

Tuesday's seminar was organized by Heidi Bimmerle. She is a work force training coordinator for several campuses within the Colorado Mountain College system. She said the program covers much more than embezzlement.

A more common form of theft is simple theft of merchandise -- something employers often think would never happen to them. However, stopping petty employee theft can be one of the most effective ways to improve the bottom line, Bimmerle said. Employees often rationalize theft from the workplace.

"They don't really consider it stealing," Bimmerle said.

Other members of Tuesday's panel include Stevan P. Layne, a nationally recognized authority on security and loss prevention. He will be joined by Donna Kerr, a partner in the Steamboat accounting firm Tredway, Henion and Kerr PC. Detective Ross Kelly of the Steamboat Springs Police Department will discuss employee theft here.

Shoplifting gets most of the attention when it comes to losses sustained by small businesses because of theft, but statistics indicate employee theft is a far more serious problem. According to a National Retail Security survey completed in November 2002, shoplifting losses total $9.7 billion nationally, compared with $15.1 lost to employee theft.

Pollard said he would tell his audience about some of the mistakes that led up to embezzlement of funds from his company.

Pollard said he put too much trust in a kindly staff member who was admired by most of her co-workers.

"Once I trained her, I didn't supervise her," Pollard said. "I had complete trust in her. She was the type of person who never forgot anyone's birthday."

Along with complete trust, the employee had complete control over three checking accounts, including an account that frequently contained as much as $200,000. That was the account where real estate buyers' earnest money was held during the time between a contract signing and the closing of a sale. The employee also controlled a general account used to satisfy accounts payable.

"She used to tell (businesses) 'Don't bother Ron about this; I'll take care of it,'" Pollard said.

A significant issue that small businesses might overlook is control of incoming mail, Pollard said. It might seem like a job for a clerical staff member, but Pollard advises against it.

"Never have any office person open the mail," Pollard admonished. "The mail goes to the boss."

In his situation, the embezzler controlled the mail and was able to set aside bills to cover the way she was shifting funds from one checking account to another in order to cover her theft, Pollard said.

He will share his story next week in hopes that others don't have to endure the same experience.

-- To reach Tom Ross call 871-4205

or e-mail tross@steamboatpilot.com