Macy's employee hides up to $154 million in expenses

In November 2024, Macy's, a prominent American retail department store, announced a delay in the release of its fiscal third-quarter earnings results due to the discovery of significant accounting irregularities. The company identified that a former employee had intentionally concealed between $132 million and $154 million in delivery expenses over several years, specifically from the fourth quarter of 2021 until November 2, 2024. This issue was traced back to erroneous accounting entries related to small package delivery expenses. As part of the internal investigation, which included a forensic analysis, it was determined that no other employees were involved in this misconduct. The company emphasized that the hidden expenses did not impact its cash management or vendor payments and stated that they would continue to focus on their operational strategy while managing the investigation. Macy's reported preliminary third-quarter results, indicating that net sales fell 2.4% to $4.74 billion, slightly surpassing analyst expectations. Comparable sales from both physical and online channels decreased 2.4%, with varying performance across divisions; Macy's comparable sales declined by 3%, in contrast to a 1% increase at Bloomingdale's and a 3.3% gain at Bluemercury. The company highlighted the importance of ethical conduct and is dedicated to addressing the situation appropriately as they prepare for the upcoming holiday season. The lack of systemic issues has allowed Macy's to maintain its commitment to serving customers effectively, despite the financial discrepancies. The retailer aims to complete their independent investigation and anticipates issuing full third-quarter results by December 11, 2024.