Embezzlement
Ravi Speaks:-
Updated on-05.02.2023.
This article is an extract from my published book, “38 Years of Selling.” I hope you enjoy the message it conveys.
When I Was Wrongly Alleged For Embezzlement In My Expenses
It happened in 1982, when I started working as a Medical Representative in Himalaya at the Ludhiana headquarters. I joined at the beginning of the second quarter, and this story is related to the month of November 1982.
We used to hold our regional meetings in Delhi back then, and they were all held in either West Delhi or the YMCA Conference Hall near Jantar Mantar. I don’t remember the exact date, but I sure remember the month of November-where all the representatives of Punjab were called for the regional meeting at the YMCA. In this meeting, my SM, ZM, and RM were present. It began normally at 9.00 a.m., and after about two hours, our GM sales arrived. The meeting went as per the agenda, and even our GM talked for a few minutes, giving us all the updates on the latest developments on the “All India Front” and also motivating each one of us for better performance in the field.
Once all the topics that were to be discussed were finished, our SM mentioned my name and, pointing towards me, told me to remain there in the meeting hall, while the rest of the reps were told to go to their respective headquarters, thus calling the meeting closed. I was immediately called in front of all the managers sitting there in a semi-circle, and my GM suddenly asked me, “What bungling are you doing with your expense statements in charging your claims?” After listening to this from the GM, I was shell-shocked and could not understand why my GM had asked this? I looked toward my immediate RM and asked what he was talking about. He reacted in a manner as if he, too, was taken aback by such a statement from the head of the field force. Suddenly, after looking towards his SM, he replied to me, “I had charged Rs. 2.50 extra one way from Khanna (interior) to Rajewal (micro-interior) and I was charging these Rs. 5.00 (both sides for Tempo) total as the extra,” which was clear cut false claiming and mounted to embezzlement. According to him, I had been doing it continuously for three to four months.
Suddenly I recollected the whole thing and remembered that he had told me casually once in the presence of my other colleague there in Ludhiana that I had charged this amount extra. “If that’s the case, please deduct this amount from my expenses and notify the company,” I said right away. To this, he had said, “Don’t worry; these are smaller things, and they don’t matter.” I repeated the same conversation to my GM on the spot, with a very sad expression, because I was afraid my GM would mistake me for a fraudulent character, which was not the case. Once I finished my talk, I said to the GM that even after I had offered myself the deduction of the amount from my expenses to the RM, he had told me that these were small things and I should not be taking it seriously. But it was shocking to know that as per him, these were small things, and I now realize that these small things are being conveyed to bigger people like my GM by such people.
Immediately, my GM told me to forget about such small figs and concentrate on my work. He further said that he had realized that it was not a serious matter and was being blown out of proportion. He motivated me even further by saying that bigger works were expected from newcomers like me, and I should not even brood over such things anymore in the future. I was told to go after that.
When I came out of the conference hall, all my colleagues from Punjab were anxiously waiting outside. They all encircled me and started asking what exactly happened. Because I was so young, I became emotional after seeing all of my colleagues and telling them what was going on inside the meeting hall. There were at least four to five very senior colleagues of mine who started calling terrible names to the RM and told me that the RM was a very mischievous character and wanted to play foul with me and my career at the beginning of my services. They also told me I should be cautious in the future from such a character and should concentrate on my work.
So I reached my HQ back and started working normally. Those days, the same guy (my RM) had terminated the services of one of my colleagues based at Ferozepur, Punjab, and the local unions of Punjab had raised a lot of hue and cry for the reinstatement of that boy back into company roles. My RM during those days only had been receiving the group of people from the PMRA section almost daily in the evening outside his residence-who used to loudly create a scene and shout the slogans of rebellion-nature and ask for the reinstatement of the Ferozepur Rep. They had even stopped not only his working but also the whole management working in protest of the same in the whole of Punjab. Now, this guy was trying to go here and there in certain hide-outs and justify his working for the sake of his survival. It had become very difficult for him to live there in Ludhiana with no work and people coming almost daily in the evening to his residence had also caused a hell of a problem for him. His landlord too was very much disturbed due to the daily slogan shouting by the group of people outside the house.
Finally, he related the real plight. He was complaining to the top management in Ludhiana on a daily basis, pleading with them to get him out of there as soon as possible. One fine morning he came at around 6.30 AM to my residence at Ludhiana and I was still sleeping. He asked for a few empty cartons from me since I had a lot of such stuff, which I had collected after taking out the promotional material that was coming to me. He told me he was transferred to Chandigarh since he was not carrying on comfortably in Ludhiana and wanted these cartons for the packing of goods to be taken to Chandigarh. I immediately gave him the cartons-as many as he asked. He left with those from my place and I wished him all the best for the new place and new team since he was taken out of Punjab simply to avoid his confrontation with the boys of Punjab. Actually, he was to be blamed for his follies, and atrocities were done to his subordinates from his side.
Later, he would only meet with me at larger annual meetings where he represented the Chandigarh and Haryana teams, and he once tried to convince me that he was not to blame for that day when I was interrogated by my GM—I simply changed the subject and did not give him any further opportunity to ponder such things that I had forgotten once and for all.
Finally, one major takeaway from such unusual events is that “if one is a dedicated and sincere worker who works truly hard with a clear mission in mind, such smaller happenings deliberately created in his path would not hamper his growth at any cost.” Even God extends His hand of protection to such people.