| Embezzling Money from Family
Question:
We have just discovered that my 41 year old sister has embezzled money from the family business where she is in partnership with my parents. She started seeing psychologists when she was in the third grade. She has lied, stolen, been in abusive relationships, etc... her entire life. The embezzelment came at a one of the worst points in our family\'s life. My father had had a stroke, I was dealing with breast cancer and she took advantage of the situation. My parents have had it and are taking steps to have her removed from the company and plan to no longer have her in their lives. What we are all stunned about is her complete lack of conscious. My fear is that she will become very violent. She has always tried to hurt, embarrass and destroy my mother in particular. But she also does things to other members of the family. Where can I turn for guidance in this potentially very harmful situation. She has cleaned my parents out of everything they have. My parents will probably prosecute.
The other issue is that she is suddenly seeing her husband again. Supposedly they were getting divorced and she moved in with a man who is very decent. We know she has been taking money from him as well. Our fear is that this man will be coming into a large settlement within the next few months, and we think that my sister and her husband may have set this whole thing up and that they plan to hurt this man for his money. I don\'t know where to go with all of this. Can I do anything before the unspeakable happens? Please advise!!!
Response:
As regards your sister's mental health, there is not much you can do if she refuses to seek help, since she is not a minor and not under your care, except for talking to her and trying to help her understand her condition.
As far as the business problems are concerned work with a lawyer to protect yourself and your parents. Sometimes severe actions, such as prosecuting, are necessary for the person to realize the seriousness of their problem, and for them to face the consequences of their own actions. Not taking action on your part encourages them to continue with their activities unchanged.
As far as your suspicion that she might take money from the guy she is seeing, one way of dealing with it is to inform the guy about your fears, then it is up to him how he handles it. However, since she has not actually done this I doubt if you can take any action just based on suspicions and concerns, except taking necessary precautions to avoid such a thing from happening.
Regards
Azfar Malik MD |
