The Energon Pub

Pretty much what the title says.

I work for a large investment bank and a while ago I became aware of a huge fraud they are commiting by using and installing software without buying licenses.

I "used" to run the team that did all these installations remotely globally, and my boss was head of the department of me and also the team that deals with license purchase and financial sign off, well he shut down any projects to do with licensing. I slowly started to uncover that in his 4 years since my boss ran this department no licenses had EVER been bought, and no one was going to as the region was growing and no one wanted to absorb the costs.

Well I raised the illegality of this to my boss and to his boss as it landed me in the **** as me and my team were actually doing the installs and knowing it was illegal makes me a willing party to commit fraud. I threatened to blow the whistle to the FAST (Federation Against Software Theft) as we're not talking a couple of grand here, the entire license fraud is well over £3Million.

I did that, and what do you know, a few weeks later I get demoted as my boss says we have too many managers so they need to do a reshuffle, so I'm humiliated by being reduced back to the same level as all the members of my team along with a few other managers, we still retained our titles and pay but now have to report into someone who was previously on the same level as us. To make matters worse, they have gone and promoted 3 people from the team up to manager in the last few weeks.

I've been off sick for a few weeks due to needing a minor operation and the sods have gotten access to my emails to look for something (they are allowed to do this but need a good reason) and have locked my accounts out. I suspect its so I can't get any of the evidence I need to prove what they have been doing. I'm due to go back from sick in a few days but based on information from other staff still there it looks like I'll walk back in then be dragged into a "meeting" and sacked on some trumped up charge based on whatever they can dig up in my emails.

Just needed to rant to guage opinion on this, I'm well versed in employment litigation and i'm totally protected if they do sack me for this and have have every intention of taking them to court for unfair dismissal, but it makes me mad that they have commited multi million pound fraud and are sacking me to try to cover this up.

Banks it would seem are the most crooked organisations to ever work for and the biggest thieves going. I'm not too sure if I do get sacked if I should publicly state who the company is and expose what they are doing...any opinions folks???

I would definitely fight tooth and nail over this, dude. Gather whatever proof you can, take them to court, especially if they fire you over this. It sounds like they're looking for a scapegoat, and it might be you.

I would take the matter to the police's fraud squad without delay.

Savage wrote:I would definitely fight tooth and nail over this, dude. Gather whatever proof you can, take them to court, especially if they fire you over this. It sounds like they're looking for a scapegoat, and it might be you.

Yeah, good plan. I've already made sure I had a copy of the instals for the past 4 years with dates times and internal reference numbers (software is requested and logged via a web browser based system) so I can prove the fraud has taken place.

I'm hoping that if they do try to sack me and I show them I have the goods to prove what they are doing and if it goes to court this information will be in the public domain and they will get hit for the 3.6 million plus all the fines the vendors like microsoft will give them I might be able to get a settlement there and then.

I think they will have to weigh up how much of a "severence package" or redundancy they need to give me to shut me up, but to be honest anything less than a million is saving them money. All I know is I don't want my job back with them and won't settle for some poxy 2 months salary notice.

I'll know for sure on Monday but I'm trying to keep all my options open until then

I'm sure some British magazine would pay top dollar for exclusive rights to your story. Corporate scandals sell papers. Plus, it pre-empts any kind of smear campaign that they will certainly try to discredit you as a "disgruntled brit". Throw the gauntlet down and hit them hard. Any hesitation will only hurt you and help them.

Had a call off H.R. today and got some updates of a sort.

Just to bring you up to speed, a few weeks ago to give me a bit more protection I raised a grievance against being demoted as I knew my employer couldn't sack me until they had resolved that, this was mainly for money as the longer I'm off the closer to the next payday I am and it gives me more chance to save and prepare.

Anyways, they can't sack me while I'm off sick so it leaves them in a sticky situation, they have very cleverly told me that it would be better if I had another week off work (paid) while they sort this out as there are still loose ends to tie up.

I didn't buy that bag o' bullshit as they've had 4 weeks to investigate this, I think they have done this so that as soon as I'm off sick leave and on some kind of agreed leave they can sack me over the phone if they want and don't need to let me back in the building to access my accounts and get evidence.

I've got to go in Monday briefly to go through everything in person and then wait about a week before going back. The other possible reason is that they are looking for something in my email inbox to sack me over and as I've been there for 2 years that is a hell of a lot of emails to trawl through in the hopes of finding something so they might just be playing for more time.

Anyone have any ideas why else they are keeping me at home for another week??

Well, if it's all true and they're looking for a way to sack you, then the week you're at home is the week they'll be talking with their lawyers and such. If you have a copy of the records to prove that they're doing fraud, make bloody well sure that they're in a safe place such as a safety deposit box or better yet, a police evidence locker.

Also, as much as some of us are quite interested to hear how all of this turns out, I'm not entirely sure that this is something that you should be posting step-by-step over the Internet. If this is truly as serious as you make it out to be, you can bet that your company has various investigators out there scouring the web for your posts on the subject, heck some may even call what you have said to be slanderous to their company, although no names have been mentioned it isn't a great mental leap to think that they can't use what you say on the 'Net against you in corporate dealings or even court.

Also after you go in on monday to look things over with them, your very next stop (if you haven't done so already) would be to a police fraud department.

Best of luck to you in all of this. You may want to get a resume handy too. Even if you keep your job, they'll start making your life hell there. Whistleblowers, while protected by various laws, aren't liked in office politics.

This all relates..........sorry to hear,it's always the good guys,who
follow protocols procedures,never have a bad day,or are model people.
As soon ...I pay off my bank.....cause of their go ahead and some..
business is elsewhere. Anywho....Big guys,figure...budget..would have
all the proper bits,....to do what's needed.

Fight em,legal...there's always...these guys did it,and find someone,
who's reputable.Cause....if the competion hears about this...your
still bondable.And....because the brass,don't want to admit they're
wrong...works against em...and how much...business will they lose,when.
someone asks.....would yas trust these guys with your money...

yas have a lot....public trust is a hard thing...reps...even harder...
talk,...say hello. .....better the devil you know.......what me gremlock say..........

Mkall wrote:Well, if it's all true and they're looking for a way to sack you, then the week you're at home is the week they'll be talking with their lawyers and such. If you have a copy of the records to prove that they're doing fraud, make bloody well sure that they're in a safe place such as a safety deposit box or better yet, a police evidence locker.

Also, as much as some of us are quite interested to hear how all of this turns out, I'm not entirely sure that this is something that you should be posting step-by-step over the Internet. If this is truly as serious as you make it out to be, you can bet that your company has various investigators out there scouring the web for your posts on the subject, heck some may even call what you have said to be slanderous to their company, although no names have been mentioned it isn't a great mental leap to think that they can't use what you say on the 'Net against you in corporate dealings or even court.

Also after you go in on monday to look things over with them, your very next stop (if you haven't done so already) would be to a police fraud department.

I second this completley.

Lockdown72 wrote:

Mkall wrote:Well, if it's all true and they're looking for a way to sack you, then the week you're at home is the week they'll be talking with their lawyers and such. If you have a copy of the records to prove that they're doing fraud, make bloody well sure that they're in a safe place such as a safety deposit box or better yet, a police evidence locker.

Also, as much as some of us are quite interested to hear how all of this turns out, I'm not entirely sure that this is something that you should be posting step-by-step over the Internet. If this is truly as serious as you make it out to be, you can bet that your company has various investigators out there scouring the web for your posts on the subject, heck some may even call what you have said to be slanderous to their company, although no names have been mentioned it isn't a great mental leap to think that they can't use what you say on the 'Net against you in corporate dealings or even court.

Also after you go in on monday to look things over with them, your very next stop (if you haven't done so already) would be to a police fraud department.

I second this completley.

Cheers guys, appreciate the warnings of not saying too much. I need to wait for this to be sorted before I can go into any further detail. There's little they can do at this stage without me naming them.

Anyways the correct people to deal with this have all the evidence and are acting on this as we speak, I think work don't know how much evidence I have and are worried if they let me back I will get more and land them even further in it.

I should hopefully have an idea what work plan to do about this within a week and know where I stand. As it stands it all hinges on how much evidence I have and how much the authorities have that I have given them (neither of which my work know) so they have to gamble on how much I have and if they sack me how much of a case I will have or confess to everything and hope I'm not bluffing them.

Either way I think its a safe bet I've come to the end of my career line there and need to move on.

GremlinGrimlock wrote:This all relates..........sorry to hear,it's always the good guys,who
follow protocols procedures,never have a bad day,or are model people.
As soon ...I pay off my bank.....cause of their go ahead and some..
business is elsewhere. Anywho....Big guys,figure...budget..would have
all the proper bits,....to do what's needed.

Fight em,legal...there's always...these guys did it,and find someone,
who's reputable.Cause....if the competion hears about this...your
still bondable.And....because the brass,don't want to admit they're
wrong...works against em...and how much...business will they lose,when.
someone asks.....would yas trust these guys with your money...

yas have a lot....public trust is a hard thing...reps...even harder...
talk,...say hello. .....better the devil you know.......what me gremlock say..........

My... own... clone... now... neither... of us... will be... virgins! (+5 points if you get the reference)

Good luck to you! Fight them! Win!

Yas always have friend,......can find mail on gremlincreatives.deviant
art.com......send this to enforcemnt..as a friend.........vent,have
an option...silent,better the devil you know:).......

As mentioned above, you should just go straigth to the cops. If you don't and you sit on it, then if things do go pear shaped then they can drag you through the mud. It won't look good in court if their lawyer asks you "So you knew about the alledged fraud but did nothing for x number of weeks? Why is that? Is it true you posted on an internet site you wouldn't settle for less than a million dollars?"

Regardless, I hope you crucify the bastards.

That really sucks. I can't believe some companies can get away with this.

like people have said before, get that info to a safe place. Better yet have multiple copies in different locations just incase of the worst. Also go to law enforcement right away if you haven't done so already. good luck.

Hey grim,for the humour factor and related. Currently having yo,yo
issues with the building management where I curently rent and live.
Won't say who...cause,this would be more of a complication at the moment. But...if yas want the rap sheet on this management issue....
multiple evictions on loud stereo,chemical heads,whorehouse,biketheft
ring...bad behaviors and threats from others former neighbours..
those were the other units...still empty.

Currently,this brings a chuckle while I'm writing this,cause...a comedy
comes to mind,a bad comedy. Still positive. Anywho currently..have
a mentally unstable individual in the unit above,who running a chem lab..Been to the hospital a few times for second hand,he states he loves
his base and goes above any normal decibel range...and as this is written. Law enforcement has been here for a physical and verbal attack,
from this guy. Have a few like maintenance issues,but...leave that..

The guy is still there,manangement has interesting views and practices.
So something from the bad comedy stories,and have a chuckle cause...
either way this is gonna be solved,going through steps...and the humour.
guys heart explodes,it's another...I told yas so to management,and you
evicted people for this before......grim

We have movement. After some posturing by me they have now suspended me and I will go in work on Friday to hear my fate on whatever trumped up charge they throw at me.

I'll update you guys Friday as to the outcome...if it goes the way I think it will it will most likely get postponed until they consider their options.

I found out that the FAST have the power to confiscate all machines with illegal software on them so effectivly with no computers to trade on and no software to install on any replacement machines the entire infrastructure of bank would grind to a halt.

Thats GOTTA give them pause for thought??

It appears,they are afraid of losing current clients. As before...now,
their rep.......is being... . Yas are in the right,can't be prosecuted.
A good lawyer,in the business sector,would rep yas.Cause there's
a solid case and you have no cards up your sleeve. These guys...have
been,playing with loaded dice.

It's all open,as long as you are.....you. Have your bits ready. Someone
would have yas,chances clients who know and trust yas.....would go
where you go. .......

Anywho,my bit...the riot act was read to the instigator party,and
apparently,this one ,aggravated a lot of people in the area. Something
had to be done,and it was..do something,or else. Myself,always the
loner,recluse...and matter of spring cleaning and organizing the
place,and soon will be working again.

Have a good one,your ok.....gremlock:)..........