5 Famous Folks Caught in the Act of Job Forgery and Resume Falsification

Social IssuesEmployment

  • Author Kevin Connell
  • Published August 7, 2010
  • Word count 509

These are the resume lies that keep my business going - job title lies, degree falsification, salary history inflations, and the covering up of a criminal past. Though the following people's reputations were completely tarnished, there is a lesson to be learned from every one of the cases.

Ex-CEO, Lotus Corporation, Jeff Papows was exposed as a fraud in 1999 by The Wall Street Journal. Not only did he tell some big lies, but he falsified information that wasn't even relevant to his being hired. First, he lied about the rank that he held in the military. As if that wasn't bad enough, he also claimed to have earned a Ph.D. from Pepperdine University. The final lie that was uncovered was that he did not have parents that were living. For his resume falsification, he resigned from his position.

Former Football Coach at Notre Dame, George O'Leary had it all going for him; a team of college kids looking up to him and hanging on his every word and the trust of the school faculty and the community. Unfortunately, it turns out that Coach O'Leary wasn't as decorated and degreed as he had claimed. In several resume lies that were uncovered in early 2001, the coach admitted that he had lied about his academic accomplishments and background as well as his experience as an athlete. Fortunately for the school, only five days after he was hired, the truth came out and the coach resigned from his position.

Once CEO of Bausch & Lomb, Ronald Zarrella was hired for his MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business. It turns out that he did attend the school for four years but never earned his MBA. The employer failed to perform an employment screening and education background check to test him for resume lies. Due to the resume falsification, Zarrella was forced to give up his bonus of more than a million dollars. In a surprising twist, the company kept Zarrella because they said he was too valuable to let go.

Marilee Jones, former Dean of Admissions for MIT was found to have falsified her education credentials. She had claimed to be a scientist with degrees from two different colleges and also claimed to have earned her doctorate degree. She decided to resign from her position in 2007 when school officials caught wind of her resume lies.

Ex-CFO of Veritas Software, Kenneth Lonchar was living the good life...that is before his world came crashing down around him. Not only had Lonchar completely fabricated his accounting degree and his "Stanford MBA", but even after he was exposed and resigned, the company suffered a stock loss of 16% of its value as investors scrambled to have nothing to do with the company.

These are all good lessons in telling the truth. If someone is unqualified for a position, even if their resume states that they are qualified, their background needs to be checked. Resume lies and resume falsification is rampant and more of a problem today than ever before. Don't take a chance; check applicants with AccuScreen.

Kevin Connell is Founder & CEO of Accu-Screen, Inc. www.accuscreen.com which has been providing pre-employment background checks on prospective employees since 1994. For additional Information & resources about Kevin Connell and Accu-Screen services, please go to http:www.accuscreen.com or call Accu-Screen, Inc. (800) 689-2228, Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time

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