Category: Resume fraud

Executive Background Check, Reputational Risks, Resume fraud, Resume Verification

The Harvard Lie

It’s only March and already DDC has discovered a public company CEO who has lied about having a Harvard degree.

man-review-his-resume

To most people, it seems absurd that someone would lie about having a Harvard degree and presume to get away with it. But every year for the past 10 years running, DDC has discovered at least one Harvard bluff during the course of a detailed executive background check. What’s more extraordinary is that these public company executives have invariably already been vetted by other background check firms, executive search firms, law firms and journalists. Repetition of the misrepresented Harvard degree adds to the credibility of the lie over time. Certainly, others have checked this out, the thinking goes.

At DDC, we check everything — every time. Public companies, investors and law firms hire DDC to conduct thorough executive background checks to mitigate reputational risks and protect credibility. A misrepresentation by a public company CEO or board member could leave a company vulnerable to an attack by an activist shareholder, market-moving adverse publicity and loss of investor confidence.

Our clients rely on our detailed, thorough checks to spot omissions and misrepresentations like a Harvard lie. And that’s the truth.

 

Interesting Findings..., Investment Due Diligence, Public Companies, Resume fraud

Lululemon Director resigns amid bio issues

Lululemon Director Rhoda Pitcher has resigned after her bio was called into question.  Among other things, she claimed to have had a masters degree from University Associates, which could not be confirmed. You can read more from the NY Post here. RealMoney.com has a detailed article here. What’s amazing is how many times her bio was vetted or she was background checked, including presumably by Lululemon itself, without any person or firm catching any of this or thinking such a person was qualified to be on the board of a public company.

********************************************************

Peter Barakett

President

DDC – Due Diligence Consulting LLC

DDC Investigations LLC

 

Private Equity, Public Companies, Resume fraud

CEO resume fraud

DDC recently determined that the CEO of a public company had made multiple false statements in different versions of his corporate bios as well as in regulatory filings.  In one instance, the CEO attempts to cover up a false statement by creating a new entry in one a website bio.  What is interesting is that this person is highly accomplished and there appears to be no reason to have made any of the false statements.

Peter Barakett, President

DDC – Due Diligence Consulting LLC

DDC Investigations LLC

Hedge Funds, Public Companies, Resume fraud

Public Company Director misrepresented bio in court documents

DDC was engaged to thoroughly review a Director of a public company.  DDC found that the director misrepresented having a CPA, as well as other certifications and memberships, in substantially all associated bios, SEC filings and certain court documents. The later declarations were made under penalty of perjury.

 

Peter Barakett

DDC – Due Diligence Consulting LLC

DDC Investigations LLC

Resume fraud

CFO lying on his resume

DDC found yet another CFO of a public company lying about his credentials.  In this case, the CFO claimed in multiple bios over the course of almost 10 years to have had a degree in accounting when in fact he had graduated with a bachelor of science degree in business administration. We believe this is a material misrepresentation of his credentials.

Peter Barakett, President

DDC – Due Diligence Consulting LLC

Resume fraud

More resume issues

DDC just found a senior executive at a public company whose graduate degree was issued by a “diploma mill.” That school was eventually raided by the FBI as part of a fraud investigation. The founder of the school was found guilty of fraud and incarcerated.

So, at best, this public company has a senior executive with a graduate degree from an unaccredited academic institution. At worst, the unaccredited degree was fraudulently issued by the school, and the executive did little or no course work to earn the degree.  Compounding the matter is the fact that the name of the school is very similar to that of a leading university, potentially misleading investors when reviewing the executive’s professional bio.

Peter Barakett, President

DDC – Due Diligence Consulting LLC

Resume fraud

Abbott Laboratories

Interesting that some articles covering Abbott Labs recent disclosure that its regulatory filings misrepresented the education of Richard Gonzalez (the soon to be CEO of its spinoff, AbbVie) mention that other CEO’s such as Bill Gates and Michael Dell also did not graduate from college.

Well, yes they were very successful, but Dell and Gates never claimed that they had a college degree!  Seems like a big difference in behavior.

DDC notes that securities filings from 2002-2007 state that Gonzalez earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston, and a Master’s degree from the University of Miami. Gonzalez does not have a degree from either institution.

Peter Barakett, President

DDC – Due Diligence Consulting LLC