The $1.26M Gambling Addiction Scandal

Speaker A: Welcome back, folks. It's another episode of It's About Payroll, not It's All About Payroll. It's About Payroll is the name. What's up, Walt?

Speaker B: Good. Thank you for clarifying that because we have had a lot of people say.

Speaker A: Right. You're hearing it now, right?

Speaker B: Yes, yes, I'm sure.

Speaker A: Yes. And it's like, there's no all payroll. Yeah.

Speaker B: Yes. It's not. Look, your state, factually, it is fact correct. All About Payroll.

Speaker A: Yes. The podcast is gonna add it to our SEO though, because I'm sure people are like, it's All About Payroll podcast. Like what? Yeah, either way, you call us whatever you like. Just call us. Come on in. Come inside.

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker A: What do we got, though? Before we get into it, you got any payroll news? Not yet.

Speaker B: To anything to share is more so about, like, the financial fitness side of things.

Speaker A: Oh, okay. Dang. I deleted it. My bad. I didn't know.

Speaker B: No, you're good. You guys just wanted to pitch a, uh, scenario or. Okay, share a thought and maybe yourself and the listeners could, you know, chime in on it or in the comments, you know. So one way to help ensure that you save money to. By avoiding penalties when it comes to taxes and those different things is making sure that there is a payroll reserve, right? So there's enough in, in. In, you know, like enough in the bank. So just in case something happens, you know, something out of the blue, you

Speaker A: know, unexpected,

Speaker B: you get a, uh, a tax notice from, you know, back in the day, and you, and you, and you owe something and it's a large amount, you have enough to cover those things. Right. You know, there's, there's a natural asset that happens and the company wants to pay out certain payrolls and, you know, this or, uh, something happens with the banks. You're, you're. You're normal bank and you can have this reserve so you can be able to pay your folks without uninterrupted. Right. So just something like that, you know, when it comes to mind, like, that would potentially help you save against, like. And I guess in the tax scenario, that will help you save potential money in that way. So it's just a thought process. It's just a thought I had. So I just wanted to pitch that.

Speaker A: That's a good one. No, I think it's good. I think it's like, as you said, I was going to ask what percentage of what? Like, what's the number? But then you said enough to cover your folks in a disaster. So that might mean a whole payroll amount or at least close to it, or if it's a. If it's some type of a disaster, it might be like, okay, we'll save 50% of, uh. And so we'll be able to give people something because that's better than nothing. But I think that's a great idea, man. I wrote it down for sure because I don't think businesses think about that at all. You know, um, I just did Pete Tiliakis survey for payroll. And you know, it's just, uh. And if you don't know, please look out for Pizza Yacht. There's a. There's a survey out there that he.

Speaker B: Oh, wow.

Speaker A: Um, he's conducting through the end of September, I believe. And it's for payroll professionals to give feedback on the industry and their experiences at their companies. And, uh, it's really helpful. You can read last year's published data and you could also be a part of this year's data that he'll publish later in the year or the beginning of next year. And it just, you know, still so many companies just don't value the department, the function, you know, and there's so much opportunity for financial fitness. Value add savings from the payroll professionals. Yeah.

Speaker B: And bro, I think it would be smart. Like companies can just add it to their budget, right? Hey, this is a part of our, um, budget. We're gonna have this reserve and it's still there. It's like the money's just spent. We have this just in case something does happen. So I just, you know, just really quick before I pass the baton.

Speaker A: Of course, of course.

Speaker B: I asked Chat GPT what it would suggest, you know, reserve to be, and it said, I suggest a target reserve, uh, of 300% of the average monthly payroll. So in other words, enough to cover three months of wages, taxes and benefits.

Speaker A: That's it.

Speaker B: A practical minimum is like at least one month. Okay, okay, minimum.

Speaker A: So like, and look, if you have really savvy financial folks, it can be in an. In an investment tool.

Speaker B: Yeah, right.

Speaker A: Some type of, uh. It can be invested and be making money for the business in some way, but it's earmarked for a payroll emergency so that, you know, if something happens, they can like, maybe borrow against it so that they can do something like have something set up, have a strategy, a, uh, something method in play. I love that idea, man. That's great. I have real quick call out social, uh, security. I recently logged back into my Social Security account just, you know, for laughs and giggles. And you know, I was like, oh, okay. Cool is a decent amount of money that for now, I guess. But in 20, 30 years, who knows. But you can see what your, your retirement benefit is going to be. You know, if you, if you haven't done it, do it. If you haven't educated your employees, your customers, do that also let them know. I think that's a really good education piece for them. And then a real quick, you know, payroll from the news. There's a company out there called Absent Soft. This, this article caught my eye because it's been a pain point throughout my career and Absent Soft does leave. And I'm sorry. Yeah, they're a leave, a medical leave, employee. Employee leave is what I wanted to say. And they handle that for clients. Right. So they introduced a payroll calculation module designed to connect employee leave administration with payroll processing. The tool addresses a common challenge. One employee's leave may involve three, four or even five overlapping policies, each with different payment percentages, salary caps, eligibility period, the coordination rules. The module reportedly uses employee pay history and applicable policies to calculate the gross leave pay. It coordinates company pay programs, short term disability and state wage replacement benefits. It accounts for state benefit offsets. It recalculates pay when leave dates, eligibility base wage or or payment order change. It produces pay period leave breakdowns for export to payroll. And it maintains a complete audit trail of changes and calculations. That sounds amazing because those are all the challenges. In addition to the actual paperwork that has to be managed. Absent soft reports that one customer with approximately 1900 covered employees reduced biweekly leads processing from 16 hours to 2 hours, an 87% reduction. The company also cites that research indicating that 40% of employees would consider leaving their employer following a poor leave experience. This highlights how incorrect or delayed payments can affect more than payroll compliance. They can also damage employee trust and retention. As we talk about all the time. Um, the larger takeaway is that payroll and leave administration remain disconnected in many organizations, reliance on manual processes and then increases the risk of underpayments, overpayments, delays, difficult reconciliations. Following a customer beta, the module is scheduled to become general become generally available on August 18 of 26. So next week, the week that this episode will post and as a separate Absent Soft add on, early adopters include organizational and financial services, healthcare and retail, along with third party leave administrators. Because the performance statistics comes from Absent Soft, employers should independently evaluate the tools, integrations, calculations, controls and state law coverage. Yeah, and so I think it was a really. Yeah, it's a really great. It just caught my eye. A bunch of articles where we try to find something interesting. And I think payroll gets caught up in this manual process so much, even though it's like a benefit, you know, for HR thing. We, you see how much payroll talk I said in that thing, and that's why we get pulled into it. So I think it was worth, you know, payroll professionals knowing about this so they can make suggestions through their teams and counterparts and stuff. So tell, uh, us what we getting into today. I think is another fun episode. I say that loosely.

Speaker B: It's a True, True Crime 2 Crayole crime episode. You know, just finding out that, man, these things unfortunately continue to happen, you know, in this, in, in our industry, and I'm sure they're happening in other industries as well. But since we're in the payroll industry, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna keep it niche and go from there. Yeah, so just a little bit about it, man. Like, so look, a, uh, local payroll manager stole $1.26 million from her employer. But the interesting thing about this story is that it wasn't for luxury cars or mansions. It was entirely to fund a massive gambling and pull tab addiction.

Speaker A: So, you know, like the machines.

Speaker B: Yes, yes.

Speaker A: Okay. Slot machines.

Speaker B: Right, yeah, the little slot machines. So, uh, like. Yeah. So who was the person? You know, it was Bridget Marshall, and she had a role as a trusted payroll and HR manager. So that's what happened is it was located in Minnesota. And so it was for a, uh, Minnesota based truck sales. They sell, they, they sold parts and service company for trucks. And she worked there for years. So look, this was a slow bleed, right? It lasted over eight years.

Speaker A: Crazy.

Speaker B: And so, so that, that is like, that's one of the longest periods we've seen one of these things occur. Right? And, and maybe, which is why it lasted so long. It's because if you spread that out over eight years, you know, I know 1.26 million sounds like a lot. 1.3 million sounds like a lot. If you divide over eight years is really not that, that much. So, you know, especially if it gets explained away. So look, it occurred from. It ran from 2017 to May of 2025. Um, so how. What did she do? She created fake excess wage garnishments in the company's payroll system. She redirected those deductions straight into her personal bank accounts. She structured the, uh, amounts to look like legitimate automated employee deductions to slip past system alerts. She manipulated the books. She fabricated several general ledgers and altered records to bury the illegal transfers inside legitimate corporate Payments. And so what's. What's the charge? She's being charged with wire fraud due to a specific January 2024 transaction, um, where she. I think she tried to draw cash a check for over 17 grand, uh, from. From the company. It was deposited. Well, she did cash it. It deposited right into her account. So, look, man, this is. This is unique for us because I think this is the first time that we seen someone be implicated, not just because they were trying to get rich, but because there was a gambling addiction tied to it.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So, you know, I find that interesting because, you know, it speaks to the point, like, has she done this in other stops? Um, you know, and I. And I. And I guess, you know, like, what. What do you do? Because I don't know how old this person was or is or anything like that, but it's just like, when do you think that she should. So, look, it says that she could face up to 20 years of federal prison, her mill and fines, and mandatory restitution of the stolen money, which is 1.26 million. Um, I think that also as a part of this, she should be mandated to get some type of help therapy, right?

Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Like any other.

Speaker B: Because. Because I think, you know, and I don't want to get political on the show, but, like, I think that, you know, from that standpoint, from a judicial standpoint, we have to make sure that we get these. When these people make these situate, make these choices in these situations, we have to make sure that they get the help that they need and, uh, point them in the right direction instead of, like, you know, like just throwing them in the system and saying, oh, you know, bad. You know, and just look, you got to face the consequences for your actions, of course. But I think, you know, in order for you to be an upstanding citizen, hopefully, you know, you would. You will learn from this. But some people, they just never learn to deal with that addiction. And even though she may be going to prison, there may be. This still may be a problem for. For her, you know, even after this has occurred. Right. Because, you know, usually what. From a jail standpoint, usually the prison is filled with repeat offenders. Right. What are your thoughts on it, man?

Speaker A: So I did the math. If we're bi weekly is the most common pay period, we don't know the pay period. Right. I mean, like, the frequency, no problem. So the. The. If you take 26 times 8, it gives you 208 pay checks, 1.3 million divided by that 208. Assuming that she did it Only like with payroll is still $6,250. That's a good amount of money a month per, per paycheck, per page, per check date. Assuming she did it with payroll. Right. If it's bi weekly, which is the most common frequency in the country, um, there would be 208 check dates in that. Eight years, right? You said eight years, right?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: $606,250. That is something that, well, she was the payroll person, but that is something that would pop out in any decent discrepancy report even if it was manually done. Uh, you know, I, um, don't. Again, we always come down to the same two things is lack of oversight and greed. Right? They're able to do it because they're, they have the lack of oversight and they continue to do it because they get greedy. And. But that's, that's a good amount of money that should have been caught. Business owners should really demand to, you know, have a requirement to see a, ah, discrepancy report by employee as, uh, depending on the amount of employees, of course. But you know, it's.

Speaker B: Yeah, it said that she was cooking the books, right? So like, you absolutely hit, hit the nail on the head there when you said that, you know, there was lack of oversight. Right. You know, you trust but verify. You, you know, you want to trust your payroll folks, but you still need to verify that they're doing the right thing by the company and they're just not paying themselves. Like, I, I know somebody, you know, a former colleague that I worked with for a little period of time at one of my stops. They got in trouble because they didn't think anything of this, but they were paying themselves early, so they weren't necessarily stealing. But like you said, we get paid bi weekly. It was just like, oh, you know, I'm the payroll manager. You know, I don't want to wait until like this is before on demand pay, right? This is before earned wage access and all that stuff. Right. So, you know, our check date is next Friday. Oh, uh, man, I want to, you know, I'm going on vacation this weekend though. I'm going to go ahead and pay myself earlier or pay myself part of my check, you know, or whatever. He's like, well, you know, I don't think it's a, it's a problem, you know, because, you know, it's my money, you know, or whatever. So. And I, uh, technically I already worked for that, that, that, that one week of the pay period, so I, I'll just deduct it from myself, you know, on the next payroll, big was this

Speaker A: company, like, what finance didn't say anything on the. On the. The cash leaving account. That.

Speaker B: That's how he ended up getting in trouble. He got let go because. Because they were like, you know, you know, technically, you know, you're not stealing. Technically, it is your money, but, you know, you didn't get authorization to do that.

Speaker A: Ah, you know, no way. No way.

Speaker B: You know what I'm saying? So, like, you know, like. So he tried to, like, say, like, I've been deducting the money. Look at the records. I've been deducting it from my check.

Speaker A: And he was fine. And that's fine, but that's. It's not the point. It's the principle of it. Like, had somebody given you permission to do this? And it was documented, and it was, you know, somebody could double check your work because they. You. You ask permission to do it, and you. They get the look. That's a different story. But, yeah, you know what I mean? It's. It's almost like parents, you know, and your kids. Like, I'll give you a great example. When I was younger, clone phones were a big thing. Uh-huh, uh-huh, Right. And I was probably about 16 and popped up with a clone phone. And I was, you know, chilling, and my brothers were like, yo, what is that? And I was like, oh, it's a phone. And they're like, you got a cell phone, you know, from, like, at the time, Radio Shack did cell phone plans and stuff like that. And that was like, the closest place. And he's like. They were like, you know, is it Radio Shack? Or, you know, the pager, whatever? And I was like, nah, this is, you know, it's cloned. And they were like, are you bugging? And I was like, oh, it's my money. I pay. I pay the bill. And they were like, let me tell you something. Just because you can do something doesn't mean it's okay to do it, right? And that was a lesson learned from my brothers. You know, my brothers are old, are older. And I was like, okay. And that's how I learned that lesson. You know what I mean? Like, if I didn't, I just, you know, you're 16, you're smelling yourself, and you feel, you know, you got a job and. Right? And you feel like, oh, I could just do whatever. And. Nope, that is not the case. So, uh, that's one of those things. Like, just because he can do that doesn't mean he's allowed.

Speaker B: You, you don't, you don't want to make it seem like you're taking advantage. Right. And people, people, companies, they don't want to feel like they're being taken advantage of.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And, and because even in personal relationships, once you break that trust, like, it's hard to come back from that. You know what I'm saying? I, look, I've also seen companies look the other way. Right. And, and you know, I, I, I know this one at, uh, this one stop I was at, there was a manager at one of the locations who was creating ghost employees to pay her. To pay herself. To pay. Yep, to pay herself. Like, and it was small increments, like, you know, 5, 10, 15, $20 here. And she would punch in the hours and into the time clock for them and stuff like that. And then, you know, they had one of the state reps come through and did an audit. Like, okay, this part, this says this person is here. Where they at?

Speaker A: I'll call you after the show. Like, hey, Walt, can you tell me where you worked at again all these years?

Speaker B: Nah, uh, nah. Uh, but look, so in that, in that situation, she was caught. She was confronted. She was confronted. And then when she admitted to it and explained why the company, the guy, the owner of the company was like, okay, you know what? I understand. I get it. I've made mistakes, too. Uh, and gave her another chance. Like, not everybody.

Speaker A: Very generous. Heck no. Heck no. That is very generous. And luckily, you're a bad person. Oh, my gosh.

Speaker B: Do you know how lucky that is? Because that's jail time.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Everything, right?

Speaker A: Yep.

Speaker B: So look, man. Yeah, it's crazy. So look, like, you know, this, this happened over seven years. She changed like Gls and all those different things, you know, she, she. Yeah, I think we explained it pretty much.

Speaker A: Yeah. You know, so, yeah, whatever. We know, right? Like, because with these, uh, cases, we don't always know everything we want to know as feral people. Yeah.

Speaker B: And look, this is going to be, you know, a part of the outro, but I think it's a good place here. Before we get to, like, our this or that segment, um, I, I want to encourage you if you're struggling with, you know, thoughts or you're considering doing something like this. Don't. If you have a gambling, if you

Speaker A: have a gambling addiction, any addiction, any

Speaker B: addiction, like, reach out to someone. There's local numbers you can call, free service numbers you can call. 1-800-Numbers-you can call to get the help that you need or someone that you Work with eap.

Speaker A: If you have insurance, your EAP might be free even if you're not participating in the health insurance.

Speaker B: And look, if you see if you're working with someone and you know what the signs are, you know, when it comes to addiction and they may be being exhibited by someone you work with, reach out, you know, talk to them and see if they can get help before they make a decision that can ruin their lives as well. Um, because we remember that. That story that's true kind of story that. The true payroll crown story that we did, where the, The. The owner who was the one who was doing it, and it ended up impacting, like, everyone because he had a payroll processing company.

Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Speaker B: Impacted thousands of employees, workers, and people's lives in the hood. They didn't. They just didn't get paid at all. So you want to be mindful of those things before, you know, before you make a decision like this, because you're not just messing with your life. You're m. Missing potentially messing with the lives of others. And that's something that, that we, we're deemed to be responsible for. So, yeah, just a little food for thought. All right, man, I know, I know this is a short and sweet one, but let's get into this or that. The barbecue.

Speaker A: Summertime barbecue edition. No doubt. You want to do the first three? I'll do the last three.

Speaker B: Yep. All right, so briskets are some nice baby rack ribs.

Speaker A: Look, if it's a barbecue, it's both easy. What about you?

Speaker B: I. I'll take a brisket all day over the ribs.

Speaker A: You won't take no ribs. Also, you like a brisket, bro.

Speaker B: A perfectly done, um, brisket is like. Yeah, yeah, the mall to me. Yeah. All right, so this is, this is gonna tell me. This is gonna tell the folks a lot about us. Brian, charcoal or gas?

Speaker A: Charcoal. Charcoal. I'm a truest. I'm a purist, you know. What about you?

Speaker B: I love charcoal.

Speaker A: Yeah, right.

Speaker B: I like this. I like the flavor it gives, like, gas. Doesn't do the same, man.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: You know, it gets the job done, but that's not the same. All right, so barbecue sauce, sweet barbecue sauce or tangy vinegar based sauce? Sauce.

Speaker A: That's a good one. This is a good question, because folks, I don't think folks realize how many, if you're into it, how, like, different the palate, like, how on, like, spectrum the barbecue sauce can be. There's a white barbecue sauce for out of Texas. Right? That was like, what in the world? But when you Get. You watch the shows and you get all foodie on it. I mean, it can't be too sweet for me, but put it that way.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: I think I have a good range. Like, I like a lot of different ones. It can't be too sweet. It can't be too hot. Um, or too spicy or too spicy or too tangy. It's gotta be just right. I don't mind. Like, I. I usually buy sweet and spicy. The sweet baby rays.

Speaker B: Yes. Okay.

Speaker A: I usually get the sweet and spicy one and then I'll get a regular one. You know the publix is good for a bogo, right? That one. Get one.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: So I'll get the sweet and uh, the spicy and a regular one. Because on the occasion that my wife eats some barbecue sauce, it. She's like just a normal one. What about you?

Speaker B: I. I'm kind of the same. I like a little kick with my sauce. I don't really like the vinegar base or the mustard based sauces.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: So I, uh, like, uh, I like, you know, like, you know, sweet, spicy.

Speaker A: Is there a brand that you buy normally?

Speaker B: Sweet Baby Ray's or. I'll just make my own.

Speaker A: See, I feel you gonna say that. Yeah. All right. Mac and cheese or potato salad?

Speaker B: Ooh. See it? See, like for a barbecue, See if it was like every other day. Um, uh, I'll go Mac and cheese. Easy.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: But like a good potato salad on a hot like summer day when you're cold, it hits different. Yeah, it hits different, man.

Speaker A: But no apples, please. No raisins. No apples, no crazy shit. And yeah, potato salad. You ain't invited to the barbecue.

Speaker B: What about, what about carrots? Some people put carrots in theirs.

Speaker A: So. Yes, but it's so Dominicans do that and it tastes great, but it has to be cooked carrots, not hard as raw carrots. That has to be soft like the potato when I bite it. Uh, I don't want crunch in my potato salad. Put it that way.

Speaker B: I don't want coleslaw in my potato salad. Okay, I got you. I got you. No, so M for me. Yeah. It's definitely potato salad, bro. For like a barbecue. Yeah, Agreed.

Speaker A: I think I ate myself out of Mac and cheese. My mom makes a great Mac and cheese, but I've been eating it all my life, so now it's my kids turn. They love it. Right. My son makes a great Mac and cheese that he learned the recipe from my mom. I'm just over it. If my mom made it, like, not to be rude I'll take a mill, you know, scoop out to eat and buy. Oh, yeah, I ate it. It's great, but I'm over it. All right. Dry rub only or slathered in sauce.

Speaker B: If it's. If. Look. So if it's seasoned well, I won't need any sauce. So. So, yeah, it's. It's. Yeah. So. And this one is hard for me. Like, so, like, I. It depends on how the meat is seasoned. If it's not seasoned well, put the sauce on there. I'm gonna need the sauce to kind of lift it up. But if the dry rub is nice and good and I don't need sauce, I'm good. So it's either or for me. Honestly, it just has to. Okay. It depends on the seasoning.

Speaker A: I'm gonna go with. I'm gonna agree with you on that last one. Cornbread or Texas toast? Oh.

Speaker B: Because both are. Both are good with barbecue. I'm gonna have to go cornbread man.

Speaker A: Agreed.

Speaker B: Cornbread.

Speaker A: Yeah, Agreed. I mean, I don't have anything against Texas toast. I just don't really look for it like that.

Speaker B: Yeah, because. Because you can go to Raising Canes and get some Texas toast.

Speaker A: So funny. You said I would just. I just went there with my son yesterday for dinner. You know, I was, like, asking him where he wanted to go. He's like, canes. Because right now it's far from where he lives, so he doesn't get to go a lot. Yeah. So he was just there. Anyhow, he actually doubles up on the toast because he don't like coleslaw. Yeah. I mean, it's fine. It's fine. It's great. But cornbread or good cornbread? See, but. Okay, here's a bonus. Here's a bonus for you. Sweet cornbread or savory cornfit?

Speaker B: Whoa. See, I. See, I grew up on the jiffy

Speaker A: mix in the sale. I still. That's.

Speaker B: As I got older, I started liking more of the savory cornbread. So not as sweet. A little bit of sweetness. Because if it's. Because if it's too sweet for me, it's like, almost like eating a dessert.

Speaker A: Okay, fair.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's true.

Speaker A: That's true.

Speaker B: You know what I'm saying? So, like, um, I like a little hint of sweetness, and if I want it sweeter, I like it to the point. If I can add honey on it.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: And then. So I. I want it. I don't. I want it a little. A, uh, hint of sweetness. So I. I use. I have the cornmeal here. And I usually make buttermilk corn muffins myself.

Speaker A: Disconnected. So you don't use the drippy mix anymore.

Speaker B: Anymore. I do it myself.

Speaker A: You do it yourself. Where's that? Like, cornmeal?

Speaker B: Yeah, they had the. They had the. The fine corn door that you can make and you.

Speaker A: Buttermilk and you can bake that.

Speaker B: Yep. And it makes corn muffins, bro. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: We might. We might have to do, like, a cooking show or something, right?

Speaker B: We.

Speaker A: We. We got everybody hungry.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Hi, Joe, you know, again. Go ahead.

Speaker B: Payroll pallets. Pallets of payroll.

Speaker A: Payroll pallets or just a cooking show? Just leave. Leave payroll alone for a second.

Speaker B: Doughboys.

Speaker A: Doughboys. Me and Walt were. Walt and I. Whatever. I'm not good at grammar. Years ago, we're looking at this pizza spot we were going to buy together, and we should have done it, man. Like, we should have just. Oh, my God, we're so scared, right? And it was fear. It was just scary.

Speaker B: We had. We were going to lunch one day and we saw that building.

Speaker A: Remember, it was a pizza. It was a restaurant with a pizza oven for sale. We went in and everything. We ate there and everything. Like, we were like, oh, my God, this is it. And we would have called the Doughboys and just got. I just got scared. I don't. Like. I forget what. How we talked ourselves out of it,

Speaker B: but, uh, yeah, bro.

Speaker A: Anywho, just to reiterate what Will said earlier, it is important to. If. If there's any addiction or stress in your life that, you know, try, try to. It's gotta start with you. You know, don't let it can't be, oh, if somebody helps me, because it's it. People want to help you. But if you have an addiction or if you're stressed out and you're caught in depression or anything like that, you have to be the change. You have to start that change, and then people will help you because you're not going to. You know, it's just not going to stick if you're just, oh, I'm going to. A lot of addicts will say, oh, I'm going to do this for my spouse. I'm going to do this for my kids. No, you have to do it for your son. And, you know, I'll share a little bit of personal. My father died of drug and alcohol addiction, and it was something horrible to see when I was 14, and he just wasn't strong enough. It should have had a hold of him, you know what I mean? And it's. If that's you. You got kids. You got a family. Your people don't want to see you go because of this, uh, you know, so. Or lose everything. Gamblers, too. Gamblers end up killing themselves because they're so deep and they can't get themselves out of debt and there's money missing and this thing. They're, like, way low.

Speaker B: Or are you getting involved? That you get involved with the wrong.

Speaker A: Make a bet with the wrong people? I've seen enough mob movies. I know how that goes. The first episode of Sopranos, right? I was just watching it the other day, and it was like, oh, my gosh. They beat. Beat. A gambler broke his damn legs.

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker A: Tony was like, don't kill him. He's got to pay us back. So, anywho, you know, please, go. Go seek help. And the true payroll crimes are fun to do, but unfortunately, people suffered, people didn't get paid. People are stolen from in these cases, and we don't take that lightly. It is an interesting genre to cover for us, but please, you know, this is serious things that folks are getting impacted with, and we don't. We're not trying to joke on that,

Speaker B: but stay tuned for the next, uh, next Payroll. Sopranos episode.

Speaker A: Sorry. That's a good one. That's a good one. Yes, yes, yes. That's good. Was it. What would be your mob name?

Speaker B: Billy the Kid.

Speaker A: Billy. Oh, Billy. That's a good one. I like that. Billy the Kid. That's a good one. Yeah. All right. All, uh, right, folks, please share, like, subscribe. Tell a friend. Tell a friend. Hit the links, hit the share buttons, all the things. And keep coming back, y'.

Speaker B: All.

Speaker A: I'm gonna have Troy Marcus on the show soon. I just booked him and, you know, have him back. Really? He's gonna come on again. Got a couple of interesting guests lined up for the near future, so stay tuned. A lot of good things always happening in the payroll, especially nowadays. And, yeah, we'll come back. We love y'. All. Peace.

Speaker B: Peace.