By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

KERZNER International president and managing director George Markantonis said employee crime is a problem the Atlantis Resort deals with every day.

Mr Markantonis was speaking to the press concerning his comments in the resort’s internal newspaper last month, in which he admitted employees engaging in criminal behaviour are hurting the hotel.

Yesterday, he pointed out that white collar crime is not unique to Atlantis, and can occur at any business.

“The comments that I made were internal comments that I made to our management teams, telling them about the sort of things that has transpired here, what we learnt, how we can get better going forward,” he said.

“Also, explaining so that we can pass on the message that crime that takes place in a business does not just affect the business – it also affects your fellow colleagues, the people that work here.

“A business’s financial success determines your merit increase on an annual basis. It determines if there will be a bonus. It determines what kind of a bonus there will be.”

When someone steals from a business, “somebody is hurt,” Mr Markantonis said.

“There’s no such thing as innocent stealing and that’s what I was making quite clear,” he said.

“It applies to any business anywhere in the world; we have to be vigilant. Security is everybody’s business; it’s not security departments alone.”