Aero Leather Clothing trial update

[Superfluous]

Nah, I'm sorry, that's just apologism to me. Will Lauder committed crimes. End of story.

Yeah, sure, there's a million and one reasons why he might have decided to go down that path, and I don't care what they are, because I make choices not to commit crimes.
Dissatisfaction with pay and conditions? He should've quit and got another job if he didn't like it, not start stealing from customers and the company.

Stop making excuses for him, he's got a paid lawyer for that.

BIG +1. All this talk of why WL may have stolen over $200,000 from KC/Aero is, IMHO, entirely irrelevant. Not one of the proffered explanations justifies his criminal conduct, nor mitigates the egregious nature of his wrongdoing. If he felt under-paid, over-worked and/or unappreciated, he had plenty of lawful remedies, including: (1) asking for a raise; (2) hiring an additional employee to whom he could delegate some work; or (3) resigning. Instead, WL knowingly and intentionally stole over $200,000. He engaged in criminal self-help. I do not care why. Millions of employees (perhaps even billions), including countless managers and executives with similar responsibilities as WL, feel under-paid, over-worked and/or unappreciated at work. The vast majority of these people remain law abiding workers and refrain from stealing from their employers. WL had a choice. His circumstances did not require that he steal over $200,000 from his employer. He had options. He choose the path of criminality. He choose to steal over $200,000. Now, he must face the consequences of his criminal conduct. For me, his panoply of excuses fall on deaf ears.

My father got taken to the cleaners by his store manager when he owned a restaurant. He had to shut it down in the end. Running a business is really tough. Once it gets to a certain size, you need help. Sometimes people take advantage of your trust. I'm so glad that KC and family were able to get everything under control and come out ok (with even more great designs) on the other side. Good job to Aero for staying the course and moving on and up!

Yup. Countless small businesses fail because criminals like WL steal from the business and the company does not have the resources to withstand/survive the theft. WL put Aero in serious jeopardy. Had KC not intervened when he did, Aero might not have survived. WL obviously did not care about Aero's survival. He was fully aware of Aero's declining performance and yet he continued to steal from the company with reckless abandon. But for KC's intervention, WL might well have bankrupt the company, just as a thieving employee bankrupt HandyMike's father's business. Imagine how you would feel if you poured your heart and soul into a small business for over 30 years and, against all odds, you built that business into a successful and profitable enterprise; only to have a thieving criminal undermine your efforts and deprive you of your well earned retirement.

I don't care why WL stole over $200,000. I only care that he gets the punishment he so richly deserves.

 

[Monitor]

Nah, I'm sorry, that's just apologism to me.
Will Lauder committed crimes. End of story.

Yeah, sure, there's a million and one reasons why he might have decided to go down that path, and I don't care what they are, because I make choices not to commit crimes.
Dissatisfaction with pay and conditions? He should've quit and got another job if he didn't like it, not start stealing from customers and the company.

Stop making excuses for him, he's got a paid lawyer for that.

:arated:

 

[jon11]

the whole episode is very sad for the Calder family who are decent people, held in the highest esteem. But good will prevail here.

 

[Worf]

Cape I thought my post was clear.... I wasn't naming names nor calling people out... That's NOT how I roll. I merely made a statement that I was no longer surprised when people come to the defense of others I find reprehensible. They are perfectly free to do so... but I don't have to follow or agree.

Worf

 

[eggleman]

As soon as I read the part about them being part of his salary, I froze for a second. It's the reason that we convict so many felons on tax evasion here in the U.S. You can't have it both ways. Either it's stolen goods or it's legitimate income. If it's legitimate income, how much in taxes did you pay on the goods taken? Because the answer is usually zero, they are caught in a trap.

The same way he claimed he was being compensated for his time with items that supposedly had no value. Can't have that both ways either.

Agreed .. He's either guilty of theft etc , or tax evasion involving himself and several multinational companies !
If He'd got off , then I'd imagine that Inland Revenue would be lined up to have a second crack at him ..

 

[ProteinNerd]

All this talk of why WL may have stolen over $200,000 from KC/Aero is, IMHO, entirely irrelevant.

I do not care why.

For me, his panoply of excuses fall on deaf ears.

don't care why WL stole over $200,000. I only care that he gets the punishment he so richly deserves.

Tell us what you really think lol

I'm sure a lot of people are in the same boat, he did wrong, dont care why, just want to see him held accountable.

I'm am more interested in the why though....what makes someone betray a guy that handed you an opportunity, I doubt we will ever know but that is what interests me, the driving force behind the crime more than the actual crime....what motivates it.

....I guess thats the psych major in me coming out.

 

[Sloan1874]

Afraid work commitments mean closing arguments will have to wait until tomorrow, guys. I'm such a tease, aren't I?

 

[Fanch]

 

[handymike]

Did I miss the Storse part?

 

[devilish]

I have to say the 'real why' is what interests me the most to. The inner workings of someones mind when it comes to stuff like this is intriguing. I stated earlier that it felt like 'revenge' for a perceived wrong doing towards him that drove it. People kind of shouted me down saying that was ridiculous. However, the more information comes out, the more it feels like that to me. It could have been something really small (quite often it's the little things that people dwell on). No one else involved probably even gave whatever it was a second thought but WL seems to have the kind of psyche that would let it fester and then use it to inwardly justify all his actions.
Like the line from 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' "no one ever thinks they are a bad person". I do not say any of this to in anyway defend what he did. There is always a point when one chooses to follow one path or the other. Most never go down that criminal road but some do. This difference is more interesting to me than whether he took the jackets one by one or in a van.
Probably because it is much more of a mystery and without insight into WL subconscious I'll probably never know.

 

[Monitor]

Did I miss the Storse part?

Yep, it was the second update.

 

[ProteinNerd]

I have to say the 'real why' is what interests me the most to.

I can't agree more.

There are so many possible motivating factors that all come from VERY different origins.

Did he do it because he wanted to get back at Ken and punish him for some perceived wrong doing?
Did he feel he was being exploited having to work long hours while Ken enjoyed retirement and still earned the profits off his work?
Did he honestly think as MD and share holder he was entitled to pretty much do whatever he wanted and that there was essentially nothing wrong with what he did?
Did he honestly think he had actually earned them with all the overtime as he kept saying?
or did he know he was stealing and just didn't care?

The motivations behind it are just as fascinating as the actual crime imo.

I have no doubt he felt justified to some degree.

None of them absolve him of any wrongdoing of course.

 

[Sloan1874]

I think it's interesting that Will was so very keen for people, even his own staff, that he was the co-owner of Aero. He was MD, in charge of the day-to-day running and well-paid, wasn't that enough? I checked back on my notes about the endless hours he claimed to work, and I noticed that Julie Leitch said that invariably she was the one who open the factory at 6 in morning, and Will would come in after her, so he wasn't the only hard worker. [huh]

 

[Fanch]

I suspect the only one cognizant of the why would be WL, and unsure that even he might know why. It has occurred to me that Sloan has spent literally hundeds of hours listening to three weeks of testimony, and then writing up the narrative for us. All in all, a heroic effort on his part; otherwise none of us would be privy to even 2% of this information. Sloan, do you have any insight as to the why, because I'm unsure that I even have a clue? [huh]

 

[handymike]

Yep, it was the second update.

Found it....
Sloan, was there questioning around the mixed horse/steer jackets or just mislabeling in general?

 

[bbq]

It has occurred to me that Sloan has spent literally hundeds of hours listening to three weeks of testimony, and then writing up the narrative for us. All in all, a heroic effort on his part; otherwise none of us would be privy to even 2% of this information. [huh]

+ 1. Sloan, incredible tale incredibly well told.

 

[Sloan1874]

@bbq, thank you, you're very kind.

@handymike, the mixed hide issue didn't come up. This is possibly because the mislabelling issue was a more serious one - as Ken pointed out, it goes back to 2007. Also, the storse thing was really about character rather than a specific charge.

@Fanch, I have my theories but I'll wait until after sentencing before saying anything. Wouldn't want to get into trouble.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Perhaps WL just wanted 'more'. There are some people like that ya know.
After the Sandy buy out fell through maybe it became 'OK now both barrels are loaded and full speed ahead' for Will to accomplish the same thing after all. No one to ever intrude with family & he's free at last with money bags in the wings for the final set up. [huh]

 

[Fanch]

@Fanch, I have my theories but I'll wait until after sentencing before saying anything. Wouldn't want to get into trouble.

Sloan, I didn't really expect you to depart from the academic objectivity that is apparent in your narrative to delve into possible subjective thoughts regarding his motives. Again, thanks for taking the herculean effort to write up all of this. :thumb:

 

[Superfluous]

Some sobering statistics regarding employee theft: http://www.statisticbrain.com/employee-theft-statistics/

Annual amount stolen annually from U.S. businesses by employees: $50,000,000,000

Percent of all business bankruptcies caused by employee theft: 33%

Amounts Stolen Percent
$1,000,000 and up: 25.3%
$500,000 – $999,999: 9.6%
$100,000 – $499,999: 28.2%
$10,000 – $49,999: 16.8%
$1,000 – $9,999: 7%
$1,000 or less: 1.9%

Median Amount Stolen: $175,000

Percent of total thefts committed by a manager: 37.1%

Average time office fraud lasts before detected: 2 years

Sources of Inventory Shrinkage in Retail
Employee Theft: 42.7%
Shoplifting: 35.6 %

One third of all corporate bankruptcies are due to employee theft! That is staggering.