Checking references on employees who can write cheques

Reference Checking

Do you know who you are talking to?

Could your organisation have recruited Nick Leeson? Leeson didn't just write blank cheques to himself of course, but had Barings known that Leeson had a number of county court judgements against his name and had lied on his CV about his educational qualifications they might have thought twice about employing him. That recruitment decision ultimately cost the bank £800m and its entire future as a business.

Similarly Jeffrey Archer's CV apparently read "Wellington, Oxford, Sandhurst and Berkeley." Of course, that infamous fiction writer omitted the fact he was referring to Wellington School in Somerset, not Wellington College, the public school in Berkshire, or that his spell at Oxford was part of a postgraduate diploma in education, for which he was unqualified, never having obtained his first degree.

A survey by AST Check of 1500 HR Managers in major UK businesses revealed the seriousness of the problem:

  • 71% said they had encountered serious lying on CVs
  • 49% said lying on CVs was a serious problem for their company
  • 37% said the most common lie was regarding previous experience
  • 21% said the second most common lie was regarding higher level qualifications

AST Check provides authentication and verification services which reduce the risks associated with identify and CV fraud.

Based on the market leader for data content in this area, AST Check, plus the Electoral Roll, Companies House, County Court Judgements, Bankruptcy Orders, the Criminal Records Bureau and potentially the Financial Sanctions Register - we offer organisations a timely, cost effective and thoroughly documented solution to help your organisations comply with legislative and regulatory requirements and address the issues around identity and experience fraud.

Why take the risk? For around £50 per candidate we can provide the reassurance that you do know who you are talking to and his or her history does "check out"

Monday July 24, 2006 The Guardian

Bryan Benjafield came into work, logged-on and got down to business. Only it was the wrong kind of business. At the height of his online gambling addiction the 23-year-old admin worker was stealing £16,000 every day - the equivalent of his annual salary - from company accounts. His spree went on undetected for 18 months. Not until he had amassed debts of £1m did his crimes see the light of day.

July 25, 2006 The Times

A call-centre worker who posed as a highly-decorated war hero has spoken about his deception for the first time since being exposed as a fraud. Alan McIlwraith's fake CV included being an officer in the Parachute Regiment who finished top of his class at Sandhurst, a senior advisor to Nato and a terrorism expert. As Captain Sir Alan McIlwraith KBE, DSO, MC — dressed in full dress uniform with numerous medals, he regaled a charity function with details of his bravery. But he was unveiled three months ago, after two years living as a Walter Mitty fantasist. Mr McIlwraith, 28, admitted yesterday that he was a charlatan, but said his charade began when he was hit over the head with a scaffold pole by youths, and bullied at work.

Friday March 10, 2006 The Guardian

An unqualified accountant who hid his criminal past in order to work for the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, was jailed in March 2006 for stealing almost £1m from Mr Prescott's office. A month after starting work, Robert Adewunmi, who has been jailed for four years, set up a front company and created an imaginary colleague in order to systematically siphon off up to £133,000 at a time. The gambling addict - whose wife was jailed for six months for helping him - also lied about his qualifications. He used some of the cash to clear debts before frittering away more money on a life of luxury, Southwark crown court heard.