In 2010, the Chief Executive Officer for ITL, a leading medical technology firm, approached his recently hired Accountant, Sonya Dollman, to discuss a troubling discovery. It had recently come to his attention that Sonya may have falsified information on her resume to obtain the position, namely by omitting her tenure as Payroll Manager with failed whitegoods retailer, Clive Peeters.

While it may come as no surprise that a candidate had falsified information on their application in order to secure employment, the case of Sonya Dollman, known to Clive Peeters as well as the Victorian Supreme Court as Sonya Causer, should send chills down the spine of every hiring manager who has ever on-boarded a candidate without conducting a Criminal Background Check.

During Causer’s two year stint with Clive Peeters, she manipulated the company’s financial accounts in order to embezzle nearly $20,000,000 from the main bank account. The embezzlement began as a way to feed Causer’s Beanie Baby obsession but quickly escalated to larger purchases including 44 different properties, multiple vehicles and jewellery.

Dollman/Causer was hired by ITL while awaiting trial for the embezzlement. She has since pled guilty and will be spending a considerable amount of time in a Victorian correctional centre.

The vast majority of Australian businesses don’t have the capital to survive the loss of nearly 20 million dollars. Clive Peeters certainly didn’t. While the company was able to secure the return of all but 3.3 million dollars, the embezzlement was the final nail in Clive Peeters’ coffin. The business went into voluntary administration in May of 2010, never able to fully recover from the damage inflicted by Causer’s actions. At the time of the fraud’s discovery, Clive Peeters had 1300 employees and 44 stores across Australia.

Upon discovering that Sonya Dollman was indeed Sonya Causer, ITL immediately terminated her employment. Fortunately, the business was able to emerge from the bad hiring decision relatively unscathed. From a financial perspective, Causer didn’t defraud the business or embezzle any money but, from a public relations perspective, ITL’s hiring processes were thrust into the spotlight and widely ridiculed in the Australian public sphere.

The embarrassing public exposure associated with the hiring of Sonya Causer could have been easily avoided with a simple Criminal History Background Check. The organisation would have immediately found discrepancies in Causer’s report and would have been able to move on the next preferred candidate.

Employment Office’s team of Shortlisting Specialist’s recommend background checks are completed before any hiring decision has been made. We offer a wide range of competitively priced Background Checking options including National Police History Checks, Employment Verifications, Professional Qualification Verifications, Bankruptcy Checks, Financial Regulatory Checks and Credit Default Checks.

If you’d like to learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact your Account Manager on 1300 366 573.