The Mind of an Embezzler: Unrelented Greed

Presented by: Susan Gunn

Date | Time: Friday, August 1, 2025 | Check in: 8:30 AM, Presentation: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM CST
(Credit Hours: 550 Practice Management and Human Relations – 3 hours)

This course is intended for doctors only.

Description 

Embezzlement is more than just a financial crime—it’s an insidious betrayal, mostly carried out by someone the doctor trusts implicitly. During the life of a dental practice, the likelihood is one: someone on your team will embezzle.

In this raw, eye-opening session, Certified Fraud Examiner Susan Gunn explores the terrifying psychological depths of the embezzler’s mind. You’ll hear from Leona, the Queen of Embezzlement, through chilling audio letters she wrote to her apprentice, Avarice, explaining how to pull off theft from the inside.

This isn’t your typical embezzlement talk. Susan takes you through seven disturbing steps—each one a progression of trust turned into deception. You’ll understand the dark motivations, manipulative behaviors, and devastating impact of embezzlement as seen from the criminal’s point of view.

Objectives

Upon completion of this presentation, you will be able to:

• Discuss the psychology of an embezzler: What drives someone to betray trust and steal.
• Explain the actions of an embezzler: The methods used to manipulate systems and evade detection.
• Summarize the effects on the practice: The lasting emotional and financial damage caused by internal fraud.
• Define protective strategies: How to stop embezzlers before they destroy your practice.

This presentation will forever change how you view the people around you—and could save your practice from an inevitable tragedy.

Susan Gunn is a Certified Fraud Examiner and Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. She is a nationally recognized motivational speaker for the nation’s top dental meetings and the author of 48 books. With 30 years in healthcare financial organization consulting, she has earned her title as Healthcare’s Financial Organization Expert. Susan has coached thousands of healthcare practices on how to get financially organized with both the practice software (accounts receivable), mastering their Accounts Payable software (QuickBooks et al), and have improved their business’s systems protection against employee theft. In 2020, when the world was turned upside down, she launched the Money In, Money Out podcast to help practices navigate uncertainty. It quickly grew to a resource she is incredibly proud of, filled with practical advice, tough love, and some amazing guests, but podcasting involves time consuming research. The episodes are still available; however, she has not recorded in several years.

Susan contributed to the ADA Practical Guide to Expert Business Strategies, serve as an ADA Financial Matter Expert and Consultant and was recognized as a Leader in Consulting by Dentistry Today since 2005. She served as Treasurer for the Academy of Dental Management Consultants and received the Charles Kidd Spirit Award for leadership and service.

Today, Susan helps clients investigate embezzlement with discretion, compassion, and the full force of her expertise. She walks beside them every step of the way—from suspicion to investigation, prosecution, and beyond.

Registration Fee:  $185

Location:   The Briar Club, 2306 Timmons Lane, Houston, TX 77027

CE Credit Hours:  
550 Practice Management and Human Relations – 3 hours