In its eighth year of operations, AuthBridge proudly re-launches its monthly corporate newsletter to share its experiences in this evolved Screening Industry. Much has changed in the environ; national laws, global compliances, Client perspectives, market dynamics making it imperative for the screening companies to evolve, innovate and be alacritous to match strides.

The inaugural April issue features Mr Krish Shankar -  Executive Director, Human Resources, Bharti Airtel in the ClientSpeak segment sharing his views on Background Screening, its impact and evolution. Future issues will feature views from our other clients and experts.

Through our monthly newsletter we expect to share with you the current happenings in the country and around the globe which either impact screening and due diligence norms or give a new perspective to how or what needs to be verified, complied to, screened to keep our organisations and our people safe within the constraints we operate under.

We will also use this medium to keep you upto speed on Best Practices in Screening and share with you infographics on screening trends as they emerge with our regular analysis of our data.

New products and services from AuthBridge will be showcased here.

Your feedback will of course be extremely valuable in helping us evolve the medium to be effective and informative.

Stirrings within the Nation

'Operation Red Spider', the sting operation conducted by an online portal Cobrapost purportedly shows a number of senior executives of the three private sector banks verbally agreeing to take huge amounts of cash from an undercover reporter and putting them into a variety of long-term investment plans so that the black money ultimately is converted into white. The three private banks accused of indulging in money laundering both within and outside has revealed a money laundering scam.

"Allegations do not mean flouting norms. There is not a single transaction which has taken place. KYC violations will happen in any system. These are all transactional issues and have nothing to do with money laundering," said KC Chakrabarty Deputy Governor Reserve Bank of India [RBI] told reporters after a meeting with bankers on March 21.

He further said, "There is no scam (that) has happened...As no transaction has taken place."

"Let us not unnecessarily downgrade ourselves. Our system to prevent money laundering is perfect, absolutely nothing (wrong with it)," he said.

Bitti Mohanty, the absconding-from-parole son of Odisha ex-DGP is finally arrested as an employee of State Bank of Travancore with a fake id and fake documents in Kerala and now taken back to Rajasthan for identification. The state police have charged a case of impersonation, cheating and forgery against Bitti. Bitti has been taken to the bank where he worked, the Chinmaya Institute of Technology here where he did his MBA using forged certificates and the places he stayed here. Police said they would again file a plea in the court for further custody as they planned to take him to Odisha for taking further evidence to confirm his identity. A police team has been to Odisha and questioned former Odisha DGP B B Mohanty, who identified his son through the photographs shown to him.

Another team which went to Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh had also collected evidences of forgery from the documents they got from the flat where Bitti was staying before he moved in to Kerala.

After fleeing jail in Rajasthan, Bitti had spent a few months in Puttaparthi, where he was alleged to have forged documents using which he enrolled as student in a private institution in Kannur and later obtained the bank job.

Global Ripples

Three Nortel executives orchestrated a widespread multimillion-dollar fraud created history by decimating a nearly $300 billion worth Canadian company to it filing for bankruptcy in North America and Europe and selling remaining businesses piecemeal to various buyers within 5 years.

Russell Foundation, an Indianapolis-based organization founded in 2003 by Michael Russell, was ostensibly a religiously affiliated non-profit intended to provide community leadership and poverty relief. Michael Russell, age 54, pleaded guilty to 20 counts filed against him and admitted to defrauding an Indianapolis investor out of $1.7 million over the course of six months in 2007.

Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill has become law of the land with President Pranab Mukherjee giving assent to it. The Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to enlarge the definition of money laundering offences and could help curb funding of terrorist operations, was approved by Parliament in the Winter Session.

The Bill had sought to remove existing limit of Rs. 5 lakh as fine under the Act. It proposes to make provision for attachment and confiscation of the proceeds of crime even if there is no conviction so long as it is proved that offence of money laundering has taken place, and property in question is involved in money-laundering.

New FCPA guidelines sift out gifts from bribes - The US has seen a surge in the number of high-profile investigations into bribery and corruption in the last two years. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act’s (FCPA) enforcement actions registered by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) includes 13 corporate cases and three individual cases in 2011. For 2012, the figure stands at seven corporate cases and two individual cases. The upsurge in investigations has raised concerns not just in the US but in India as well, given the close business relations between the two countries and the extraterritorial nature of the FCPA

AICTE declares ISB and IIPM with all its branches as unapproved institutions among 300+ others.

ISB said the management programme offered by the institution “is one of the best courses in the country” and it need not have a stamp of approval from the council. “In fact, the ISB is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and is the first business school in South Asia to be recognised by this premier global body. Since its inception, the ISB has been offering one-year courses which now became a norm with other schools like IIMs.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has issued a show cause notice to the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), asking it why the technical education regulator shouldn't initiate action against it.

Footnote: Following a complaint from an IIPM business partner alleging "defamatory web material" targeting the "institute", a Gwalior court last month ordered the blocking of 73 uniform resource locators (URLs).

Krish Shankar
Executive Director, Human Resources,
Bharti Airtel

Leading the HR function in Bharti Airtel, a 10bn USD company since April 2007, Krish has successfully led various organization development and transformation initiatives, making Airtel among the best companies for leaders.

Prior to Airtel, Krish, a Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from XLRI, Jamshedpur, worked with Unilever for over 20 years, lastly as Vice President, Human Resources- Asia- Africa Region. Krish has over 25 years of professional experience in enterprise level roles, with a focus on change management, performance management, people alignment and driving the HR transformation agenda to deliver strategic value for the business.

A keen runner, Krish’s other interests are reading, trekking & photography. 

In an exclusive interview with AuthBridge, Krish Shankar shares his views on Background Screening below:

Screening: an effective tool to further risk mitigation strategy

In a market environment like India where one in every 10 applicants is reported to be showing some kinds of incongruity in his/her resume, a thorough background check increases the objective information available to a prospective employer. Experience and trends prove that background screening acts as an effective tool to further risk mitigation strategy.

Ineffective employee background verification process might increase possibility of fraud, dilution of brand/reputation and workplace violence.

Acceptability and implementation of the employee background screening process has risen exponentially in last five years

There has been an exponential rise in acceptability and implementation of the employee background screening process in the last five years as Industry encountered pitfalls of negligent hiring leading to drain of wealth.

As per the reports, every 8 out of 10 employers complete criminal background checks on applicant before hiring them. A background check may uncover deception, can affirm an individual’s professional or personal integrity by validating information supplies and highlight any anomaly in criminal, employment and education history.

Overall quality of hires has improved with reduction in error rate

Considering its huge impact on the hiring process we have been over-cautious in designing and staging the background verification process along with being highly careful and robust in monitoring it. This has resulted in our error rate declining to 9% in FY 12-13 vis-à-vis 13% in FY 11-12 thereby improving the overall quality of hires.

Experts estimate that hiring a wrong person can cost an organization between one and five times that person’s annual salary. In the last one year, because of robust pre-hiring checks, 10%-15% of error cases were terminated. Though there is a cost involved in including an additional step in the hiring process, however it represents a fraction of the cost of terminating an individual.

Critical to screen facts which contribute to 80% discrepancy

The following 3 areas of background screening are not only critical before taking a hiring decision but also account for almost 80% of incorrect data supplied:

1. Past Employment History – discrepancies found relating to tenure of employment to title held to compensation.

2. Education Credentials – issues relating to fake certificates, incorrect period & course are most common

3. Criminal Record Check – to avoid making a high risk decision which can have a long term impact

Education from institutions not recognized by Indian regulators but having Industry patronage is advisable to be considered given current times

As we develop & enter into an era of larger private sector participation in Education Industry, we should see better interface, partnering & integration between different regulators & other Government Bodies. This would standardize & ease the whole recognition process and make it more relevant for current times.

Therefore, in its present state or form where we have larger population seeking education vis-à-vis available Government Infrastructure supporting it, it is advisable to consider education from these institutions after validating the records.

Networking Sites are best used to validate pre-screening results till they mature to mitigate legal wrangles

We work in a dynamic business environment & fastest growing economies of the world. Businesses are expanding & availability of quality manpower is not in line with the growth. Hence the need of the hour is to come up with innovative ways for screening & verifying candidates to ensure legitimacy & quality. Amid security concerns, corporate scandals and workplace violence, pre-employment screening has been gaining ground. One of the recent trends is use of networking sites like Facebook & LinkedIn to establish common connections & verify the details being submitted by candidates. In its present form – it is being best used as a channel to validate results of pre-screening report being run by partners till it matures to a stage of mitigating the legal liabilities in case of unpleasant situations.

We can also see financial credit history check playing a crucial role in times to come as data regarding this become readily accessible with required credibility.

Economy of scale through trained staff, better utilization of paid data records and greater thoroughness and accuracy through advanced analytics are derived through professional screening services.

Managing end to end background screening process internally may be a time consuming, costlier & operationally challenging activity. Professional screening company derives economy of scale through trained staff, better utilization of paid data records and greater thoroughness and accuracy through advanced analytics.

In addition, background checking is highly regulated and therefore it is all the more challenging for firms to ensure regulatory compliance.

Data from 2011-12 has been analysed to show industry sectors with highest discrepancy percentage in Employee Screening Services. Next issue we will compare the 2012-13 data for these Industry Sectors to highlight any trend.

What should your Background Screening Policy say?

• Identify and categorise all risk parameters:

  • Employees

  • Clients

  • Customers

  • Vendors/Suppliers/Franchisee

  • Contractual Staff

  • Visitors

• Identify Sensitive Roles [High Risk]among employees

• Identify physical or virtual resources which need to be protected

• Identify at which stage of engagement the risk is to be mitigated

• Define the scope for screening

• Identify steps how info for screening will be gathered.

• Identify checks to be conducted

• Define Severity Matrix with clear policy guidelines for Action or Waiver

• Define procedure for Action

• Define procedure for Waiver

• Define Retention of records

• Ensure Legal Compliance

Source: AuthBridge

NAPBS offers the following best practices intended to benefit employers and job seekers who are planning for 2013:

1. Be Complete: Conduct a comprehensive background search to avoid negligent hiring. Relying on partial information or information that may be out of date can be as risky as not conducting a thorough background check at all.

2. Be Efficient: Time is a precious commodity especially for recruiters. Look for ways to utilize technology to help create efficiencies. Talk with your background screening provider about ways to improve your process to save you money and time.

3. Be Thorough: As an employer, you have certain responsibilities under the law. Make sure that all background screening practices meet federal and state regulations as well as industry requirements. Be mindful of the new Equal Employment Opportunity Commission criminal guidelines and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

4. Be Analytical: Consider job responsibilities when screening candidates. Go beyond basic background information and assess job relatedness and business necessity.

5. Be Consistent: Develop a method for a targeted level of screening for each open job position to align with business needs and job relatedness.

Source: NAPBS

Fake ID allows 6 years reprieve

Six years after jumping parole, Bittihotra Mohanty, was finally arrested by Kerala police in Kannur. With a fake identity as Raghav Rajan, he got a job of Probationary Officer with State Bank of Travancore.

Many questions arise from this one instance.

• Did the institute from where he completed his MBA check the validity of the documents he submitted for admission?
• Do MBA Institutes and other technical institutes have a screening process?
• At what stage of his hiring-on-boarding process did the bank initiate the background check for Bitti?
• What documents were asked for the screening?

A standard background check on his education and police verification at his permanent address by the institutes and the employers during his 6 years would have revealed his fake education and his criminal past. The education document from Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology being verified as fake would have stalled his future run and SBT & Chinmaya Institute of Technology at Chala would have saved themselves this unwarranted publicity and embarrassment.

Yahoo Blooper

Scott Thompson stepped down from the post of Yahoo Inc.'s CEO after a misrepresentation was found in his academic credentials. Thompson's resume mentioned a bachelor's degree in computer science from Stonehill College which is, reportedly, false. This fake detail was reported to be present in Thompson's bio-data even when he was a part of eBay, his previous employer.

• Would you risk your organisation’s credibility by hiring a leader who has proverbial skeletons?

• Would a detailed screening conducted on a leader’s past and current professional associations reveal other ‘misrepresentations’ ?

AuthLead^TM

An advanced background verification product designed exclusively for screening the senior-most of an organisation; this intense screening solution goes beyond the regular structured verification process to delve deep into individual’s professional associations at peer, subordinate and senior levels. Individual’s credentials are checked in all relevant databases, national & where applicable international. Driven by some basic client guidelines, AuthLead reports are a compilation of detailed research & interviews of references.

As a highly customizable product, our consultants work closely with the client to understand the requirements and present a detailed dossier which allows the company to take an informed decision ensuring the individual is professionally capable for the defined role and is compliant to national and global regulatory and industry standards. Flags, if any, are reported.

To know more click here

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IndiaVerify^TM

A retail product from AuthBridge, IndiaVerify addresses the verification requirements of individual customers for domestic helpers, drivers, tenants and marriage partner. This online verification service allows AuthBridge the opportunity to serve the individual customer for securing their personal and domestic environs. Rise in the level of marital frauds and crimes committed by domestic helps, drivers and tenants, has heightened the need of a verification service of this nature. IndiaVerify eases the process of initiating verification for the individual.

To know more click here

Ensuring KYC norms are being adhered to and AML controls are strengthened is gathering momentum across the globe. While banks in India up their ante to address the stink being raised by the revealing reports of Cobrapost, the global landscape is equally scathed with Federal Reserve [UK] and Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP), the Argentinian federal tax agency raising concerns on the functioning and controls at Citibank and HSBC respectively.

Serious Fraud Investigation Office [SFIO] in the process of setting up a forensic audit laboratory along with revamping its Market Research & Analysis Unit to enable it to function as an intelligence unit. SFIO also has the powers to recommend prosecution in white collar crimes.

In this edition we have Mr S. Varadarajan, Executive President – Human Resource of Tata Teleservices Limited sharing his views on the evolution of and impact of Screening on the hiring processes in his organization and the Industry. He also speaks on the role of regulatory bodies in ensuring they are synchronized with the industry needs especially in the regularization of education institutions.

Screening the CXOs has been a largely muted subject and most organizations overlook its import. It is indeed a point we would like you to ponder on and share your views with us. There are enough instances of frauds committed at the senior-most levels and the impact it can have on the credibility and existence of the organization.

The case of how a law graduate resorted to multiple forgeries to procure a plum law position, which eventually resulted in her facing a trial in the New York court makes for an interesting read and clearly depicts the risks of not verifying before trusting a probable hire.

We continue with sharing our data analysis on trends we see in the screening we conduct across industry sectors and best practices we are certain will help you strengthen your hiring processes.

Your feedback on the newsletter will help us continue improving it to make it a worthwhile read.

Stirrings within the Nation

Mumbai Company cons HSBC of Rs 330 crore

The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police have registered a Rs 330 crore cheating and forgery case against a city-based company and its representatives for duping HSBC by securing investment with fake promises.

The company claimed to have entered into a contract with BBC to upgrade their entire library from 2-D to 3-D. Investment was sought to purchase technical equipment and programs for upgradation. The bank representative's meeting was arranged with an executive who purportedly claimed that he was representing BBC. The bank later verified with the BBC and found that they had not awarded any contract to the accused. The bank also found that the BBC representative met with them was a con and all the submitted documents were forged. The bank then filed the case with EOW.

SFIO plans early warning system to detect fraud

SFIO is expected to prepare a comprehensive framework for fraud prediction model by June this year. The aim is to "develop an Early Warning System for detection of and to undertake investigation of serious frauds through the SFIO," according to an internal Ministry document. The IT infrastructure for the proposed system is expected to be ready by the end of this year, while the pilot testing is anticipated to begin in September. In addition, SFIO would be setting up a forensic audit laboratory along with revamping its Market Research & Analysis Unit to enable it to function as an intelligence unit. SFIO has the powers to recommend prosecution in white collar crimes.

The new Companies Bill, awaiting approval from the Rajya Sabha, would provide statutory powers to the agency that would help in bolstering its investigation and other capabilities. Forty two cases have been referred to SFIO in the current financial year and probe has been completed in 15 of them.

Global Ripples

Citigroup told to improve money laundering controls

The Federal Reserve has ordered Citigroup to strengthen its controls against money-laundering, pointing to problems in subsidiaries including the US unit of Citi’s Mexican bank, Banamex. In a consent order released by the Fed and signed by the bank, Citigroup pledged to take extensive actions to better comply with the US Bank Secrecy Act on preventing money-laundering. The consent order did not provide any details on what problems were unearthed by regulators except stating Citigroup “lacked effective systems of governance and internal controls to adequately oversee the activities” of the subsidiaries with respect to the BSA and anti-money laundering rules. The apparent problems involved Citigroup’s key operating subsidiary Citibank, and Banamex USA, the US arm of leading Mexican bank Banco Nacional de Mexico, also controlled by Citigroup. They also involved other group subsidiaries in international banking. The consent order lays out a detailed schedule of actions Citigroup and the subsidiaries must take to tighten its compliance, and reporting requirements on those actions. The order came without any prior testimony or legal hearings or findings, and said it did not constitute an admission or denial by Citigroup of any allegation that had come before the Fed.

Argentina Accuses Local HSBC Unit of Facilitating Money Laundering, Tax Evasion

Ricardo Echegaray, director of federal tax agency Afip, said a six-month probe uncovered evidence of tax evasion for ARS224 million and money laundering for ARS392 million. He said charges were filed in early February. Mr. Echegaray said "there was decisive participation" of HSBC executives to hide information from Afip. HSBC Bank Argentina SA ranks as one of Argentina's top 10 banks by deposits and assets. Afip is also investigating other banks and a brokerage firm for possibly using phantom accounts and bogus tax receipts for tax evasion and money laundering, Mr. Echegaray said at a press conference. Argentina isn't the only country where HSBC has come under scrutiny from regulators in recent months. In December, U.S. authorities announced a $1.9 billion fine against HSBC Holdings for failed anti-money laundering controls they said allowed drug proceeds and transactions from sanctioned nations to enter the U.S. financial system. Neither HSBC nor any of its executives were charged with criminal conduct in that case.

Employers Must Use Revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification

USCIS will no longer accept previous versions of Form I-9

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds employers that beginning May 7, 2013, they must use the revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification (Revision 03/08/13)N for all new hires and re-verifications. All employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each employee hired to work in the United States.

The revision date of the new Form I-9 is printed on the lower left corner of the form. Employers should not complete a new Form I-9 for existing employees, however, if a properly completed Form I-9 is already on file.

The revised forms are available online at www.uscis.gov/I-9.

Employers should use the implementation of the new form as an opportunity to ensure that company policies and procedures are current and compliant. Best practices include a written policy regarding Form I-9 rules and procedures, yearly audits and training, and appointing an I-9 czar for your company. I-9 inspections by the government are at an all-time high. Neglecting to fill out I-9 forms or filling out I-9 forms incorrectly can result in fines of up to $1,100 for every incorrect form.

Centralized KYC Registry for customers across different Financial Institutions

RBI issues guidelines to issue Unique Customer Identification Code for NBFC Customers in India (UCIC) to adhere to the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms; Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards and Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT). This guideline applies to all Non-Deposit taking NBFCs with assets of Rs 25 cr and above and to All Deposit taking NBFCs.

The increasing complexity and volume of financial transactions necessitate that customers do not have multiple identities within a Financial Institution or across the financial system. In this regard, a Working Group constituted by the Government of India has proposed the introduction of unique identifiers for customers across different Financial Institutions for setting up a centralized KYC Registry.

CEO CONNECTEDNESS and CORPORATE FRAUD

“The SEC named the CEO and/or CFO for some level of involvement in 89% of the fraud cases, up from 83% of cases in 1987-1997.“ - COSO Fraud Study 2010

“CEOs with a taste for luxury goods…aren’t more likely to commit fraud, researchers found. But fraud is more likely to happen in the companies that they run…”

“Big-spender CEOs also tend to run companies that take bigger risks, but have poorer performance and are more likely to go bankrupt.” - National Bureau of Economic Research

“If you want to understand fraud, you need to cast beyond rules and regulations and look to the corner office.” - Prof. Magnan, of the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal,

A study conducted on CEO CONNECTEDNESS AND CORPORATE FRAUDS concluded empirically that “CEO connectedness decreases the likelihood of fraud detection, lengthens the time from fraud incidence to its detection, reduces the likelihood of forced CEO turnover upon discovery of fraud, and lowers the coordination costs needed to carry out illegal activities.”

The authors of the study found through a study of 282 cases of corporate fraud during the period 1996 through 2006, “Corporate wrongdoing often requires coordination between or acquiescence by top executives who report to CEOs on a daily basis”. They say, “CEOs have both explicit legal authority and substantial “soft” influence within the firm to direct corporate behaviour of which wrongdoing is but one potential outcome.”

Would you agree? Would you put your CXOs under the scanner?

Some recent instances of CEOs found fraudulent across the world. Absence of Indian instances probably reflects what the study concluded about the lengthening the time from incidence to detection.

• Claudio Osorio, the former globe-trotting executive who headed a Fortune 500 company, faces up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing millions of dollars from investors in his ill-fated venture to build low-cost housing in Haiti and other developing countries.

Source: www.miamiherald.com

• The former chief executive officer of Peoples Bank of the South, a south Mississippi bank, Larry Barnette Hill, has been charged with fraud and money laundering.

Source: www.sfgate.com

• Highly confidential documents emanating from the office of the Microfinance And Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) and intercepted by Modern Ghana point to a grand executive fraud involving the Chief Executive Officer Madam Bertha Sogah alleged to be involved in a GH₵500,000 deal.

Source: www.modernghana.com

• Darrell McAllister, former president and CEO of Bank of Choice, has been charged with securities fraud allegedly having violated the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the Colorado Securities Act.

Source: www.ncbr.com

S. Varadarajan (Raja)
Executive President, Human Resources,
Tata Teleservices Limited

Spearhead for the Human Resource function and responsible for HR Strategy, Organization Design, L&D, Cross Culture building, Remuneration Practices, Performance Management and Leadership Capability Development at Tata Teleservices, India’s fastest growing Telecom Service Provider, Raja has been awarded with the Seasoned HR Professional Award for 2012 from NHRDN and President’s award in 2010 for his contribution to NHRDN. Raja was also awarded for his thought leadership and contribution to the field of HR at the World HR Congress in 2009.

We are happy to share his views on the importance and impact of Background Screening for the hiring process in general and for Tata Teleservices in particular:

Candidate screening is practically “the first step towards strengthening organizational governance”.

In a company like Tatas we focus a lot on ensuring the maintenance of the ethical fabric of the organization. In the present day context, with more focus on sharpening the Governance system of the organization, “candidate screening” practically becomes the first step towards strengthening organizational governance. The process of ensuring and driving legal and ethical behavior, accountability for management’s actions, transparency of operations, fiscal accountability etc start with having responsible and ethical people at all levels of the organization and thus not having rigor in the screening of candidates who are to become employees has immense ramifications. This is especially so in the context of globalization liabilities arising thereof such that any failure in this process can potentially be linked to the organization having to shut down its operations.

Screening Industry has evolved

The industry has certainly evolved both in terms of size as well with respect to quality of delivery. The evolution has been for the better. With more and more service oriented companies increasing their presence in India this has led to a rise in having this process outsourced based on the advantage of leveraging such core competency and also the economies of scale. With database getting built and process improvements made over time, the quality of this service in terms of improved TAT, accuracy of information etc also improved.

Screening has reduced risk and increased productivity

This process has definitely strengthened our hiring process in line with the requirements of ISO27001. The screening of candidates ensures that we are at a lesser risk w.r.t possible issues that may arise if one were to hire employees with dubious background. More importantly it has created awareness both within and outside the organization that we take this process seriously and are well aligned with the ethos and code of conduct of the organization in spirit and practice. This in turn has resulted in increased productivity as we are likely to be having lesser cases unethical practices.

Candidate Identity, Address Verification and Education are of utmost importance

In my view checking on a candidate’s basic verification with respect to identity and address is of utmost importance given the current circumstances. Secondly, while education check may not be criteria for many while selecting a candidate, it does give valuable insights on the character of a person. If one was to forge or falsify on something as basic as this then it is likely he/she may embrace unethical practices more easily. Lastly it is important a police or court verification be done as it further helps you to ring fence the overall screening process. This is especially so where organizations are required to be compliant with stringent global requirements.

Regulatory Bodies and Industry Patronage of Education Institutions should complement not compete

The regulatory body derives its authority from the law of the land. In my view we need to respect the law at all times. While industry patronage augments the institutions but it would be equally important to them for being recognized by the applicable regulators. The debate should focus around challenges or the way forward on getting such institutions recognized or having the regulator revisit the recognition norms rather than choose one over other. They should be complimenting and not competing with one another.

Centralised Records Database is the future of screening

I do foresee that screening records may get centralized very much like the CRISIL database, and be accessible at a cost. However there could be many nuances that may need to be ironed out first. I also think that such screening process will become necessary not only for full time roles but also for temporary or part time roles. An extension is that this data base can also be used for reference checks as well as analyzing attrition trends in the organization/industry.

Long-Term Cost Benefit and Quality should decide outsourcing of screening process

I think that if this process fits into the core competencies of the organization then it’s absolutely fine to have an in-house screening process, else they would do better to evaluate a long term cost benefit analysis as well as a quality check vis-à-vis involving a specialized third party who are well versed and qualified to carry out these checks.

In continuation of the Discrepancy Trend Analysis, in this edition we share the check-wise discrepancy comparison for the four industries we are tracking over FY 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13. Apart from the Pharma/Biotech/Clinical Research; the other three industry sectors have displayed a decrease in check-wise discrepancy.

Telecom displays the maximum decrease in discrepancy percentage.

Reasons for the increase in the discrepancy in the Pharma sector or the reason for decrease in the other three sectors could be attributed to different reasons which we will be discussing in forthcoming editions.

This analysis has been done using the number of individual checks conducted per individual who was verified.

DISCREPANCY %

The first issue spoke about a comprehensive Background Screening Policy and the best practices as defined by NAPBS. The current edition shares the risks you should be mitigating by screening your workforce and others associated with your organisation in any capacity.

Risks to be mitigated

• Identity: Be certain of the identity of the person you are dealing with in any capacity. Government issued identity proof is a definite check to ensure your prospective hire, vendor, customer, client or even a visitor is a genuine bona fide identity and not an imposter.

• Accessibility: Ensure your employees current address in your records is genuine and the individual actually lives at the address so as to be able to reach the employee in case of any emergency or requirement.

• Current Address should be an address where the individual is currently staying and has been staying there for a minimum 6 months. If stay at the current address is less than 6 months, then the address or addresses prior to the current address should also be verified to ensure the address is genuine and that the individual actually stayed there.

• Criminality: A basic check to ensure the individual does not feature in any of the negative lists available in the public domain, both Indian and global negates interaction with a person with a criminal record. Additionally, criminality can be checked with the authorities specifically the police department for any record of any activity criminal in nature at a verified address.

• Police Verification conducted without first confirming the authenticity of a stated address and the confirmation of the individual residing at the confirmed address can in all probability give a result which is inaccurate.

• Fitment: Verify education, professional and technical qualifications of your workforce to be certain that the person is qualified for the job. Verify past employments with HR and the supervisor to understand capability, attitude and achievements.

Gaps between two employments, two educations or between the last employment and the first employment are an important area for verification. Stated gaps should be verified to ensure no criminal record exists during that period. Unstated gaps [gaps uncovered during the process of verification] should also be verified similarly and should be red alerts for the individual’s integrity.

Ms Sengupta had her career collapse, undone by the chance discovery of a single lie that led to the discovery of many more. A clerk stumbled upon her application file, and noticed her listed date of birth that put her age at 29. Ms. Sengupta, in her late 40s at the time, declined to answer the many questions which were asked. Eventually, it became clear that she had not only shaved nearly two decades off her age but that nearly everything about her work and education history was not as she had claimed.

Soma Sengupta, an India-born daughter of an engineer, who grew up mostly in Jersey City has a very well-scripted career. A clear indication of what a pre-hiring background check could have prevented.

The Facts:

• Graduated from Georgetown Law School in 1998

• Became a licensed lawyer in 2000 after passed the New York State bar exam.

• Began volunteer work two day a week in 2004 for the Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights Project
  
  

The Falsifications

• Claimed had left law school before graduating and applied for a paralegal position with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, as the office did not allow lawyers to work as paralegals.

• Claimed 1969 as year of birth, eight years earlier than the correct year of birth

• Was fired from the office in 2003, after it became known that she was, in fact, a lawyer.

• Got her supervisor to write reference letters to help her apply for several staff lawyer positions, including with the American Civil Liberties Union in New Jersey and the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem.

• Claimed to be an assistant district attorney and to prosecute “gang and white-collar fraud cases,”

• Claimed to have defended “all felonies including murder and sexual offences,’ by virtue of being staff lawyer at the Legal Aid Society

• Six years of advocacy experience in a common law system

• Graduated in the top 1% of her class at Georgetown Law
  
  

The Forgery

• Reference letter from Robert F. Drinan, a former United States representative from Masachusetts and a Georgetown Law professor; it was dated a year after his death.

• Forged reference letters stating Ms. Sengupta was an accomplished trial lawyer.

• Fake Indian birth certificate.

• Created a fake website for a fictional law firm in the name of fictional former prosecutor

• Forged reference letter from him

• Forged a reference letter from the office of Eliot Spitzer, the then attorney general.

A comprehensive fraud, this had the Bar Standards Board of England and Wales modify the application process to now have the” college transcripts come directly from the schools in a sealed envelope, without passing through an applicant’s hands”.

On trial in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Ms. Sengupta, 52, faces forgery and other charges, “the most severe of which carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years”.

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