You are a manager for a large department store. It has recently come to light that a receiving clerk has been stealing merchandise. About $5,000 has been stolen. The clerk has stopped stealing, and the faulty internal control weaknesses that were determined to have allowed the fraud have been fixed. No action has been taken yet to punish the perpetrator, who still works at his same job. The clerk happens to be the nephew of one of the other managers, who, while he understands that his nephew’s behavior was unacceptable, would like to keep the theft relatively quiet.
What action, if any, should be taken against the receiving clerk in this situation? What consequences will probably result from that action?