To report my boss?

[Truckingalong]

Totally torn about what to do. I recently caught my boss out falsifying business data. She knows I know. She did it thinking id never find out. I didn't suspect a thing - I just stumbled across it by sheer chance. She is very senior, I'm reasonably senior and there is a good chance she could lose her job. I shouldn't know but I do know that she's already under investigation for something else that calls her character into question (financial wrong-doing) but I don't know what the outcome of it has been or whether it's still ongoing even. Every scenario is shit. I say nothing and feel compromised. I say something and she's sacked or disciplined and I have to carry on working with her. I say something but nothing is done about it, so we carry on working together with our relationship broken. She's lovely, a great boss and a likeable human being. My OH thinks I have to report. A colleague I've confided in says she's under a lot of pressure (she is), we all make bad calls and so let it go.

It really is a hot potato, and you don't want to be caught holding it when the shit hits the fan

It's just difficult knowing that what I do next is going to have serious consequences for her.

You're not responsible for the consequences of her actions. But yes, I can see that knowing you're about to do this must feel awful.

Did she do what she did acting in her own interests? (i.e. did she steal or falsify data to make herself look better?) or did she do it to cover up a mistake she'd made?

Were her motives self interest or incompetence?

The colleague I told is actively suggesting that I don't report it. No way would he report it. He's a bit of a wild card though and has a questionable take on ethics. Again, he's a nice guy and very senior but he likes to rebel and not conform to the system!! He said it's my choice ultimately though.

Please report it ASAP because now that she's aware that you know, she may be hurriedly trying to cover her back. Are you sure you received the email by accident or could she be setting you up? I worked with a very very popular member of staff, everyone's friend. I didn't like her, there was something 'off' about her but I didn't say anything. Turns out she was stealing some incredibly important stuff from work and made sure to only do it when she was working with a particular staff member so they would take the fall. Thankfully she was caught out. It is strongly suspected she pulled the same stunt in her previous job but someone else was blamed. That person has not been informed what has happened and to this day can only get low paid jobs. Unfortunately I don't know the poorer son that took the fall or I would tell them.

She's NOT a nice person. She's a con artist that is committing fraud and knows how to manipulate people into staying quiet.

Her motives were not incompetence or covering a mistake up. She couldn't be arsed doing something so she lied about it instead.

okay, so how much of this is criminal?

you do have to report it, can you not do so anonymously?

Not being arsed to do something = deliberate incompetence in my book. Which is worse, is it not?

There is absolutely no way of her blaming me for it. Without going into more details, given the nature of what it is, there's no part I played in it that could backfire on me. She wasn't setting me up either. She just thought she'd save some time by not doing something and falsifying the data instead.

Don't PM anyone - you don't know who they are, she might have recognised herself in your OP for example.

Take a deep breath, phone the whistleblowing line, and take it from there.

Oh yeah, it's much worse than incompetence. She's deliberately set out to deceive.

And there is no way of reporting this anonymously. There's only me who can know and she knows this.

Report it. You know you have to. Do you want to lose your job through 'non reporting', just because you think she is 'nice'?

There is an e-mail in existence, with your name on, in which you query it. Ignore it, and you are as bad as she is, and someone will whistle-blow on you as complicit, and you will have no leg to stand on. Can you afford to lose your job and your good name??

well, your other colleague also knows...

report it. a huge weight will fall off your shoulders.

Without a doubt report it. Or else she'll take you down with her. If she's doing this she'll stop at nothing. Including landing you it. Absolutely cover your back and do what's best for you. That's what she'll be doing. Don't tell her your doing it.

So what if you are not anonymous? She has done something wrong. You haven't - unless you cover up for her, in which case she could easily turn it round on you instead.

If she tries to 'revenge herself' on you because you blew the whistle on her, then you have your own integrity to fall back on, and can call in help and support. If you remain complicit, you have NOTHING to fall back on.

As pp say, you need to report this to protect yourself.

You other colleague may not report this himself. But what if he talks to someone else about this, or he talks to your boss about it and someone overhears and reports their conversation?
You and your boss have exchanged e-mails about this - what if her e-mails are read as part of this ongoing investigation you mention in the OP, and the investigators learn about this fresh wrongdoing (and that you know about it)?

Horrible situation, but doing the right thing is your only option.

Do her actions impact on other people? Customers, colleagues? Or is it just a case of falsifying data to get away with not doing it.

FWIW, I was once in a similar situation where I had to report a colleague to our boss for falsifying data. There was no impact on anyone other than the study that we were working on having false data. A group of us who had witnessed it gathered up the courage to tell our boss.

He ignored our comments, and she now holds a senior position in the organisation. It was unpleasant.

Your organisation have an obligation to support you, make sure you insist on it.

By talking to your colleague, you basically gave yourself no option but to report this, as if they speak up and you don't then your professional reputation is destroyed. Every day that you don't report it, makes that outcome more likely.

She's already under investigation for something else, she has form for doing this.

Do it today,so it doesn't linger over teh weekend.

You have to report.
Do you have a whistleblowing hotline or something?

If you know that someone is doing something that is potentially against the law, you have a duty to report it. You yourself could be in serious trouble if you fail to raise this. I would suggest you call the whistleblowing hotline urgently

As well as your organisation having an obligation to support you, I'd point out that you have responsibilities towards your organisation! Please don't listen to your maverick colleague - his moral compass sounds askew.

I will do it on Monday. I'm not doing it today - I won't sleep over the weekend. I already feel anxious now.

Yes, colleague is lovely but has definitely got a faulty moral compass!!

Thanks for all your comments and input. I really appreciate it.

Surely warning her is only against the law if she is laundering money? And I also don't think the bit about being as guilty as her if you don't tell is correct, unless you're talking money-laundering or terrorism?

You are responsible for producing the reports and you know that the content is falsified. This already makes you complicit.

You need to report this asap unless you are comfortable running the risk of losing your own job and the reasons for your dismissal following you around for ever more.

You are an idiot if you don't do it today.

The only way to be certain of protecting yourself is to report it. Your boss might get found out and try to implicate you, your colleague might decide to tell, including your part in it, IT might uncover the email trail. She is under investigation for another matter, so she might well be being monitored.
Awful for you though.