At least Lyor Cohen and Edgar Bronfman are doing it in plain sight.
But a backroom scheme has now gone bust for Warner Music Group equipment buyer Andrew Robertson, who almost ran away with $700,000 in stolen funds. This involved a few different tricks, including the creation of fictitious vendors and over-charged items. Robertson profited on the difference and diverted money to a personal account.
The scam started in roughly April of 2007, until the company noticed that Robertson’s home address matched that of the fictitious vendor ‘A.I. Robinson’. The puzzle pieces suddenly fit.
Now, the matter is being heard in Manhattan Criminal Court, where paperwork shows Robertson was charged with grand larceny. At the moment, it’s unclear if these means time in a “PMITA” prison.
Also unclear is whether Warner bred a culture that helped Robertson justify this sort of action. Of course, every corporation has its bad apples – and this might be that simple – though the culture at Warner seems to be more focused on personal profit-taking and leeching than employee welfare or broader company growth. Or, at least that’s the impression from the outside…