Part of our credentialing process is to make sure that there is one “responsible party” on file. This is the person who signs on the dotted line saying that they will not abuse the service, that they’ll pay the bill, and all that fun stuff.
Recently we had a company request an account with us. We’ll call them “Cyber Tracers Incorporated” for the purpose of this article. Their responsible party was the CEO of the company – a man who we’ll call Jack Bauer.
Making sure every check is made
Our credentialing department reviewed the documents they supplied (business license, scan of Jack’s drivers license, etc). Everything looked fine. We also did a search on the business to make sure they were legitimate and in good standing with the state. Lastly, we checked out the responsible party themselves – we need to make sure that there are no criminal charges against the person that may indicate trouble: identity theft, fraud, high treason – you know, the usual.
In the criminal check, we did find a few items that seemed alarming. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, we asked Cyber Tracers for clarification. Maybe we had found the wrong individual? Maybe the charges were dropped or the case was expunged for some reason? Better to check with them before making a decision.
As luck would have it, when we inquired with the folks at Cyber Tracers, they informed us that it was a case of mistaken identity – more to the point, identity theft! Someone had committed crimes in the CEO’s name – or so he claimed. That’s not uncommon, but it’s the first time we’ve seen it.
After digging a bit deeper into Mr Bauer’s criminal history, to everyone’s surprise we found that there were two felony warrants for his arrest. Cyber Tracers was caught completely off guard by this. As a result of us bringing these warrants to their attention, Cyber Tracers then ousted him from his position as CEO and immediately terminated his employment.
The moral of the story is: If you have active warrants out for your arrest, don’t volunteer yourself for a background check! And maybe check out who you’re appointing as CEO of your company also – you clearly never know what you might find.
