THE ENEMY WITHIN

Sal Remtulla, Head of Employee Screening

Our quarterly round-up of innovative attempts to deceive potential employers…

IN THE MEDIA

Ahli United Bank was recently deceived into offering a position to a candidate who was not what he seemed. Peter Gwinnell claimed to have degrees from Oxford and Harvard, as well as a 20-year history with JP Morgan. After posting his CV online, Gwinnell was quickly spotted by the bank’s head-hunters and seemed the ideal candidate for the role of Deputy CEO. Only when the bank conducted full background checks did it quickly became apparent that Gwinnell’s entire CV was falsified. For his efforts, Gwinnell was given a 50-week suspended sentence for fraud, ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and is under 18 months of supervision.

A UK immigration officer was recently fired for putting his wife on a terrorist watchlist. The officer concerned placed his wife on the list while she visited family in Pakistan, meaning she could not return to the UK for the next three years. The officer’s misuse of the list was only discovered when he was re-screened on promotion.

CRIMINAL RECORDS CHANGES

The bodies for criminal checks in the UK – the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Disclosure Scotland – are undergoing a number of changes. Subject to government cuts, the CRB is considering scaling back the requirement for criminal checks for those working with children and vulnerable adults. Disclosure Scotland is due to launch its Protecting Vulnerable Groups initiative on 28 February, which will affect all levels of criminal check disclosures.

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