Please help

[forgivin]

My wife is co-owner of a family business and recently the family discovered that one of four owners (a cousin) had been scamming company money. He was the president of the company and the accountant. From 2001 till last week he has lost a little over $900,000 dollars. Yes nine hundred thousand dollars in company money through bad investments and personal stuff like trips to paying personal bills like car payments and personal credit cards. My wife’s brother the other owner says that the cousin (thief) is Bipolar and they should forgive him and start over with a clean slate. He says that they should follow the bible and forgive him and move on. The Bipolar cousin doesn’t admit to anything nor does he apologize. The forth owner and my wife think they should consider legal action. So should they make this Bipolar person be responsible for his action or should they forgive him and give him a new start? What should a Christian do?

 

[goldenviolet]

i believe we should be held accountable for commiting acts, when we know we know the difference between right and wrong. if this where something mental, i'd have different feelings. it's an individual's struggle that causes outburts and stress etc. but you are talking about stealing. i've never met a bipolar who didn't know right from wrong. however, forgiveness is possible while accountablity happens. to stand by someone through the consquences is christian. loving. forgiving.

 

[wonderwaleye]

Dear forgivin

When reading your post questions come to my mind.


1. Would it make any difference in GODS EYES if it were $ 1000.00, $900,000.00, or even $1.00?

2. If your co. had netted a five million dollar profit would these expenditures even come into question?

3. With no more than you posted where is the crime?

4. Could not all these expenditures be a legal business deductions?

5. Do you know and understand what bipolar is?

6. Were the other owners riding on a bed of ignorance during this time by not paying any attention to the business?

7. Where is the crime that any court could convict him on?

8. Would I forgive him with what is posted here?


The answer to # 8 is YES WITHOUT A DOUBT.

GOD DIDN'T SAY FORGIVE AND THEN MAKE HIM PAY TO THE LAST PENNY.

I would hope by the time you answer all these questions in your mind that you would be able to forgive him and yourself and all make a new start.

It is my hope we will all keep GODS WORD OPEN AND REMEMBER:



XEven though you can't see Him, GOD is there!O
( click on the X and move to the O ) ( then feel who is around you )

 

[CCe]

Something came to mind while reading your post and I can't exactly tell you where it is in the Bible right now but it is about the ten talents. God/Jesus gave more talents to the person who used his "business" head wisely.

I don't recall you saying what your wife thinks about this. If it's her family, you might be better off to let her decide what's best for her. That way you don't caught in the middle of a family feud. Just my opinion....

 

[AngelRider]

My wife is co-owner of a family business and recently the family discovered that one of four owners (a cousin) had been scamming company money. He was the president of the company and the accountant. From 2001 till last week he has lost a little over $900,000 dollars. Yes nine hundred thousand dollars in company money through bad investments and personal stuff like trips to paying personal bills like car payments and personal credit cards. My wife’s brother the other owner says that the cousin (thief) is Bipolar and they should forgive him and start over with a clean slate. He says that they should follow the bible and forgive him and move on. The Bipolar cousin doesn’t admit to anything nor does he apologize. The forth owner and my wife think they should consider legal action. So should they make this Bipolar person be responsible for his action or should they forgive him and give him a new start? What should a Christian do?

wow.....I understand the forgiveness issue but I also know Old Testament Law would have one pay for his own law breaking in penalty. I would definitely pray to God about this one and let him guide you in this matter since it is family involved and could be a hindrance in the future. God wants us to love one another and not carry anger at all. Family comes before money always.
I will pray for you also

AngelRider

 

[forgivin]

Sorry, more details now.
Here is what happened. In late 2001 the cousin (owner #4) started investing money into personal not company investments in the stock market. If he would have made a lot of money it would have been his personal profit not for the company. But By 2002 he had lost all of his personal money including savings. Now the mother company that he is the president of and accountant for owns 3 companies. The cousin started taking money from the small sister company that he also managed. He used the money to pay his personal bills and brokers he had barrowed from. He then had the mother company send that company merchandise at cost to sell. But when the merchandise was sold he took the money for more investing and paying off personal dept, instead of paying back the mother company. By 2004 both companies were so in dept he had to hide it from the other owners. He took out company credit cards and business loans from local banks. He then had to cover for the bigger life style, so he stopped paying the business sales taxes and stop the company from contributing to employee’s 401k plans. Since he was the president and accountant he could do anything he wanted. He got all the mail, and even went to court for the business taxes being behind and worked out a payment deal with the state government. He was giving the other 3 owners bonus checks telling them that business was better than ever. One day my wife (owner #2) called one of the vendors for a special order and they told her they couldn’t do business any more because they were behind on last years payments. So my wife started investigating the records while he was gone to Hawaii for a family vacation. The first thing she found was that he used company money to pay for his trip to Hawaii. Then everything started unfolding from there. First they found that he had been using company credit cards to pay for about all his personal stuff, like food, mortgage, trips, and even stuff he bought for his wife and kids. Since how he made $90,000 a year salary they started looking to see what was really going on. That’s when they found a weird money trail in his office. They hired an accounting team to come in and figure out what happened. That’s when they found out what he was doing, taking money from somewhere to give to himself, then taking money from somewhere else to cover that, then somewhere else to cover that, and so on until it got to over $900,000 in money the had lost since 2001 until now. Now owners 1, 2, &3 are barrowing money and selling personal assets to keep the company from filling bankrupt because owner #4 has no more money or savings. If they shut down, people will lose their jobs and the people and companies this company owes will lose their money too. Owner #1 is my wife’s mother and she is very old. Now my wife’s brother (owner #3) says that the cousin (owner #4) is Bipolar and they should forgive him and start over with a clean slate. He says that they should follow the bible and forgive him and move on. The Bipolar cousin doesn’t admit to anything nor does he apologize. Owner #1 and my wife think they should consider legal action. So should they make this bipolar person be responsible for his action or should they forgive him and give him a new start? What should a Christian do?

 

[wonderwaleye]

Dear forgivin

In order to protect the company's reputation and the employees jobs given the information you have now supplied I would turn this over to the district attorney and let him make the decisions as what should be done.



In other words I would let the law take care of the law.



If it's mental illness that is the cause of this then the law should consider this in any action taken.



There is a big difference between a civil action that is taken by you and an action by a government authority.




GOD WORD SAYS: " WE SHALL OBEY THE LAWS OF THE LAND "



It has been shown for one reason or another that this person is not to be allowed to put others at risk.



Forgiving him and helping him to make a new start, YES BY ALL MEANS. Helping his family cope, Yes.
Getting him the medical treatment needed, YES. Sharing GODS WORD with him, YES.




AND YES WE SHOULD ALL HELP HIM TO REMEMBER:




XEven though you can't see Him, GOD is there!O
( click on the X and move to the O ) ( then feel who is around you )

 

[Proeliator]

Id say give it to the law as well, and try to get him a deal where he has to get some help, rather than just doing time. Doing time never helps, it just hurts.

 

[Shalia]

I'd turn it over to the law too.

When I was younger, I used to steal money from people... quite a bit in fact.

My mother eventually called the police on me, and convinced them to drag me away to what was tantamount to a "homeless shelter" for runaway teens, and had the cop tell me this is what I was heading for, and if I didn't straighten up, it would be jail. They kept me for the weekend. I was around rough kids I didn't know and was scared of.

It taught me a lesson, that even when I'm flying high as a kite and am impulsive as all get out, I do it with my OWN money. Sometimes being busted is the only thing that gets your attention.