Partnership money getting stolen
Q: A partnership housed in a CC with 2 partners being equal members for a number of years running a retail businesses. Partner A and partner B. Partner A manages the warehouse and all store operations and staff and partner B manages purchasing of goods and finance and admin. The accounting works as follows. All monies are collected from stores and given to partner B. He then enters the receipt of money and credits the partnership. Partner B does all buying for the partnership as well as buying for his own stores which is owned by himself and for other stores which he supplies which are not part of the partnership. Partner B pays all suppliers as well as all expenses such as rental, wages, etc. Partner B purchases from suppliers in bulk supplies and invoices these goods to the partnership as well as the various other stores he supply’s. For the partnership, all payments off the partnership are paid by him. Once he has paid for expenses or goods of the partnership he invoices this out to the partnership. So an invoice will include payments he has made for goods purchased and supplied to the partnership and for expenses of the partnership that he has paid for such as wages rent etc. All sales received from the stores are credited to the partnership in the books of of partner B when he receives it. All invoices for goods supplied are debited to the Partnership in the books of Partner B when he supplies it. All other Expenses such as rent wages etc are also debited in the same manner by Partner B. Thus the partnership will owe him money or he owing the partnership money at any given time based on the sales collected by him less the invoices he has issued to the partnership. The partnership has no creditors. The partnership is now splitting and the accounting being finalised were the sales collected by Partner B less the invoices made out to the Partnership by Partner B are being calculated to see how much is owed either to Partner B or from Partner B to the Partnership. During the partnership some 3 years ago Partner B was hijacked on route to pay suppliers and an amount of money was stolen from him. Partner B is now deducting 65% of that money stolen and claims this money belongs to the partnership and thus should be deducted. In the years from the hijacking to the split partner B has never told partner A that the money stolen was part of the partnership neither has he given him an amount. He has only brought it up now when the split has occurred as a deduction in the calculation. Will it be correct for him to deduct this money that was stolen he now claims 65% of which belongs to the Partnership?