Sometimes background checks will filter out the potential red flag employment candidates, and sometimes an employee with a clean record will decide to great creative once they have a job they feel they can leverage illegally for personal gain. Especially in times of a tough economy when money is short and people have outspent their salaries, employees are prone to make desperate moves. Reports were coming in at the height of this economic downturn that office theft was on the increase.
But then you have this case as reported in the Wall Street Journal. An executive assistant and Disney allegedly conspired with her boyfriend to sell insider information to hedge funds. Reportedly, she and her boyfriend sent out thirty-odd letters inviting mutual funds to bid on her insider information, for a price to be named at a later date. Rather than bit, several of the mutual funds reported the the solicitation email. Other mutual funds merely ignored it.
Ultimately, the couple unwittingly sold their insider information to undercover agents. The Wall Street Journal reported that the boyfriend left the meeting with the undercover agents, posing as stock traders, with an envelope containing $15,000. Some of the money, according to reports concerning the email exchange between boyfriend and girlfriend was to go toward her buying designer handbags and shoes.
Okay, so the alleged insider scheme seems lame on a good day. In this case the stock traders and mutual funds who were solicited were reputable people and either ignored the email or reported the couple. But there are conditions when an employee may sell proprietary information to an all too willing taker. This can be costly. In fact loss of valuable data and information can be so damage your business may struggle to recover the loss.
And then what if that sweet young man or woman, ever so personable, ever so nice, well educated, has tried to sell insider data from their previous position. How would you know? Background checks, of course. In a case like this, aside from the state felony and misdemeanor criminal records, it would pay to also fund federal criminal background checks and federal civil background searches. I have sen where those who appear beyond reproach suddenly turn up with federal criminal records. Good people. Nice people. Educated, only with a few personality flaws and the willingness and desperate to steal from the job. Not good.
Life is full of surprises. Some of the surprises are not so nice. Like employees who steal, for example. Check them out before you hire.
