Hiring a CEO is a long and arduous process. Companies can’t afford to waste time and money on the wrong candidates. It’s bad enough when someone gets a CEO position and isn’t good at their job. It’s even worse when they have to resign in embarrassment.
More frequently than you might suspect, companies hire someone for a top executive position without doing a thorough background check. Instances like these not only waste company resources, but they hurt the company’s image and make securing top talent in the future harder. Here are a few times a more thorough vetting process could’ve protected a company’s resources and reputation.
Monica Crowley was a research assistant to Richard Nixon in the 1990s. She received a PhD from Columbia University in 2000 and was a political commentator for The Wall Street Journal, Fox News and MSNBC, among others. She has published multiple books as well.
When Donald Trump won the presidency he initially nominated Crowley to be the Senior Director of Strategic Communications for the National Security Council. Quickly after her nomination reports began circulating that Crowley had plagiarized large portions of the books she had written.
Initially the Tump administration said they stood by Crowley and that the attacks on her were politically motivated. However more and more evidence of Crowley’s plagiarism began to mount.
Crowley was found to have not only plagiarize portions of her books, but also her PhD dissertation for Columbia University. Harper Collins, Crowley’s book publisher, withdrew her books from being sold and Columbia said they were reviewing their records.
Crowley’s plagiarism went from minor footnote to national spectacle overnight. After standing by Crowley during the initial accusations, the Tump administration ended up withdrawing her nomination. This whole scandal could’ve been avoided with basic cross referencing and data mining.
Gustavo Martinez was the CEO of J. Watler Thompson, a major company in the advertising industry. JWT has over 10,00 employees working in more than 200 offices across 90 countries.
Martinez is originally from Argentina and became Global President of JWT in 2014. In January of 2015 Martinez was named CEO. Within a year of his promotion, Martinez was named in a lawsuit alleging discrimination by a female employee.
The lawsuit claimed Martinez had made numerous racist remarks during a company meeting. Martinez is said to have told employees to double check their bags and belongings since the hotel where they were staying had so many black people. Martinez is also accused of making comments about raping female employees.
One of the more shocking aspects of this case is the brazenness of Martinez. All of these comments were made in front of large groups of people. His comments about black people potentially stealing employees belongings are even on video. In fact, Martinez had been known to discuss his distaste for Jewish people.
Martinez’s willingness to speak this way publicly surely could have been discovered before he was made CEO. Instead J. Walter Thompson is now engaged in a high profile lawsuit and lost their CEO. Extensive background investigations can protect your company from embarrassing headlines and wasting money fighting lawsuits that should never have happened in the first place.
Scott Thompson is an American businessman with an impressive resume. Thompson had a long career in technology before becoming the CEO of Yahoo in 2012. He had been the Executive Vice President of Technology Solutions for Inovant, Chief Information Officer for Barclays Global Investors, Chief Technology Officer and then President of Paypal.
Thompson’s work history made him appear to be the perfect candidate for almost any job in technology. How could he have gotten so many high level technology jobs without any skeletons being rousted from his closet?
Despite his exceptional work history it turns out that Thompson had been falsifying his resume. After six months as the CEO of Yahoo, Thompson was forced to resign after it was discovered he lied about his college education. Thompson claimed to have received bachelor’s degrees in computer science and accounting from Stonehill College.
When Stonehill College was contacted about potential discrepancies on Thompson’s resume, they would only confirm he had received a degree in accounting. Thompson blamed a headhunting firm for the false information, but the firm strongly denied the allegation. Yahoo has been struggling to find stead leadership ever since.
All of these cases share a common theme; they were all 100% avoidable. There is no excuse for hiring a CEO who has to resign in disgrace with a year of employment or even before they begin the job. Private investigation firms like Lauth Investigations International can identity these issues before your company makes a move.
Companies aren’t just wasting time and money on unqualified candidates, but they’re risking their reputations. Appearing dysfunctional is bad for investors and makes it more difficult to secure qualified candidates in the future. Lauth Investigations International has the investigatory skills to protect your business from self-inflicted wounds.
David Schroeder, Blog Writer, Lauth Investigations International
In December 2012 Lauth Investigations International’s Indianapolis office was retained to locate a stolen wedding band—valued at $35,750.
The Case
The owner of the ring was a local grandmother, who we will refer to as Client X. Client X was the grandmother of three, and the mother of two older children—both of whom were married. One of her grandchildren was a special needs child, and required near-constant care. The financial burden of the care was becoming too much for her son’s family. Meanwhile, the client and her daughter-in-law were estranged for many years.
Client X briefed Lauth Investigation’s Private Investigators on the case, and she was adamant that her daughter-in-law, the one with the special need son, could be responsible for the theft.
Client X insisted that she was responsible, and that her son had no knowledge of his spouse’s thieving behavior. In the briefing for Client X, she further explained that she was loaning her son money to pay for various things for their special needs son such as education, clothing and other necessities.
She also had purchased the house they lived which alleviated them of any mortgage or rent payment. The client was firm in remembering where she left the ring inside the home and felt comfortable implicating the daughter-in-law—as there was a history of small items disappearing from inside her home.
The Investigation
The client had contacted other local private investigation companies but they were unable to assist. Lauth Investigators requested that Client X file a police report, and to get the detectives name and report number for reference when speaking with vendors.
Lauth Investigations was confident they could utilize local sources in gathering evidence leading to the daughter-in-law and perhaps even locate the ring.
Lauth Investigators began the case by compiling a strong data timeline to track the various auctions and pawn shops. Investigators worked on a critical timeline to locate the ring before it was sold.
Investigators requested photos from Client X of the daughter-in-law, the ring, and any insurance statements or police reports she filed.
Investigators then compiled a geographical list of auctions and pawnshops near the subject’s home in order to interview shop owners and request receipts.
On Day-Two of the investigation, Lauth Investigations uncovered a receipt from a location nearly one-hour from the suspects home. Evidently, the suspect had sold the ring to a small jeweler for over $8,500.00—just two days after the ring was stolen.
After Client X authorized Investigators to proceed confronting her daughter-in-law regarding the theft, investigators took the receipt and written statement from the jeweler and then attempted to obtain a confession from subject. Investigators attempted to confront the woman to discuss but she adamantly denied the theft and refused to talk any further.
The confession attempt interaction then started a thunderstorm of conflict in the family and people began to shut down.
Investigators then scoured other jewelers and auctioneers and found an additional receipt for $4,000 from months before the other theft.
The Results
Lauth Investigators then contacted the original law enforcement detective on the case and reported their findings.
One week later suspect was arrested.
Client X was very happy to have received closure on her wedding ring, and she recommends anyone having a household theft problem to contact a private investigator.
– Thomas Lauth, CEO, Lauth Investigations International
Here are 8 Signs of a Potential Dangerous Person In the Workplace. This is in no way an exhaustive list, merely a few common red flags to watch out for:
1. A Controlling Nature
This person is not the industrious take-charge type, but a true threat when it comes to controlling others. Change unravels this type of person.
2. Violent Opinions
These people tend to blame victims and are particularly interested in news about the latest school or workplace shooting, bombing, etc. It could be a red-flag if the individual often talks about, or expresses interest in, violent and odd topics.
3. Obsession With Power
This point has some overlap with number one, but this type of individual may have a gun collection, subscriptions to ammo or paramilitary magazines, or be active on online communities for firearms. He or she might also be obsessed with law enforcement.4. Assume Others are Out to Get Them
Employees who seem hyper-vigilant, or even paranoid, may be under the impression that others are out to get them. A signal could be something as simple as a comment saying, “somebody is poisoning this coffee.” Paranoid thoughts, and expressions of those thoughts, are a red-flag for potential violent behavior in the future.
5. Frequent use of malicious references
These people are likely to say things like: “She had it coming,” or, “Karma is a great thing and will come back to bite him.”
6. A Generally Weird Personality
They generally are the oddballs, the ones who stand out. They don’t get invited to parties coworkers throw. Although there are tons of harmless people with odd personalities, this is a potential red-flag.
7. Lifestyle is Not Health-Conscious
Not very many of us have the discipline to live a completely health-conscious lifestyle. That is not uncommon. However, at the extreme end of the spectrum: people often smoke and/or drink, rely on pain pills all the time, are hooked on sleeping pills, eat junk-food constantly, and are the last people you’ll see at the gym performing lifts or taking a high-impact aerobics class.
8. Ongoing Anger
These types of people are frequently irate, and they often blame others for this anger. These are the people, that at some point, will reach boiling point.
Photo by Nicolas Halftermeyer (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons
Today’s private investigators seem to have it pretty easy compared to those of the past — cell phones, security cameras, and social media accounts are often used to obtain evidence for investigations. Gone are the days when private eyes had to flip through physical documents and phone directories, or find the location of someone with an actual map. And now, thanks to the advancements in drone technology, some investigators are opting to do away with physical surveillance.
A drone, or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), is a remote controlled aircraft. Although they have been around for several years, flying personal UAVs is a relatively new hobby. These small crafts have been all over the media lately, even earning the endorsement of Martha Stewart. Like Stewart, many people use drones to take beautiful aerial photos. The market for drones is constantly expanding, and tech companies are keeping pace. Some drones can record a live feed, detect heat, or are small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand. Others can fly four several hours at a time, scanning entire cities in a day.
Due to their discreet nature, private eyes have begun using drones to catch cheating spouses or dishonest employees. Instead of observing someone on foot for hours, investigators can use a drone to get a bird’s eye view of a suspect and collect video evidence. Using a drone is also safer for an investigator and are cheaper than chartering a plane or helicopter. A recent New York Post article featured a private investigator whose specialty is drones. According to the article, the investigator had to use a drone to record evidence of insurance fraud instead of physically surveying the suspect’s property for fear of being shot.
Because of their invasive capabilities, many are questioning the ethics of drone usage, including U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. Schumer recently called for federal regulations on drones, even going as far as proposing a ban on drone usage by private investigators. The idea of anyone being able to purchase a surveillance drone and using it to record whomever and wherever they want is fairly unnerving. The use of personal drones is uncharted territory, filled with flimsy guidelines and little regulation. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibits the flying of UAVs for commercial use or payment. Drones are also not permitted to fly over heavily urban areas, and must alert control towers if they fly too close to an airport (FAA Website). Even so, investigators like the one featured in the Post article are still flying their drones.
Should we start expecting to see drones tailing us as we walk down the street? Probably not.
For now, most investigators are opting to stay on the ground and stick to their tried-and-true surveillance techniques. If evidence is gathered illegally, it may lose its value in court, and a private investigator could lose their credibility.
The recent surge of undocumented children entering the United States has brought up several issues, one of which is human trafficking. With so many minors coming in unaccompanied, many are worried that the children will become victims of this growing problem. Although slavery seems to be a thing of the past, the number of trafficked humans is much larger than it was centuries ago and continues to rapidly increase worldwide. Part of the problem is lack of awareness and the disbelief that slavery could occur, especially in the Western world. “No country is immune,” warns the United Nations, “whether as a source, a destination or a transit point for victims of human trafficking.”
Trafficking Worldwide
Although the exact number of victims is unknown, researchers estimate the amount of trafficked people to be between 12.3-25 million worldwide. Some are forced into unpaid labor, working in dangerous conditions for little to no pay. Others become victims of sexual exploitation, forced to become prostitutes and earn money for a pimp. Unsurprisingly, the biggest motive for trafficking humans is money. According to experts, the total market value of human trafficking is $32 billion, with nearly a third of that amount coming from the actual sale of victims (United Nations).
Trafficking in the United States
Despite the official abolishing of slavery in 1865, thousands of people are still trafficked within the United State’s borders. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, nearly 300,000 children become victims of sexual exploitation alone. Many of them are runaways or were abducted from their homes. One in three teens are lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home (National Runaway Hotline). And once a child or teenager is trafficked, especially across country or state borders, it can become much more difficult to find them .
Even though the outlook seems grim, many non-profit organizations and government agencies have begun to battle this epidemic. Recently, the FBI rescued nearly 170 child victims of sex trafficking and arrested 281 pimps (CBS News). Many of these children were never even reported missing, and could very well still be on the streets if not for the FBI’s crackdown. The Bureau’s Innocence Lost program has identified and recovered almost 3,600 children who were victims of sexual exploitation since its start in 2003.
Hiring a Private Investigator
Despite the efforts of the FBI and other agencies, around 2,300 people still go missing in the United States each day (Crime Library). Because the amount of missing persons cases is so high, many families choose to look for outside help. A private investigator will work with the family and friends of a missing person and help generate leads for law enforcement. Private eyes have the time and resources to focus on a specific case, and those that have experience finding missing children know what signs to look for. “What is the PI going to do that the police won’t? He is going to keep on searching,” says Jerrie Dean of Missing Persons of America. “He is getting paid to find the person, not the reason they left.”
According to Dean, hiring a private investigator can help even if the person isn’t found right away. “He brings that information back to the family, the family tells the media, the media reports it and then the police are renewed and following a new lead to [the victim],” says Dean. Part of the problem with missing persons cases is publicity. Too often, the media only broadcasts photos of missing people that will gain the most viewers, and eventually the attention peters out. Keeping a case alive can be the driving force in finding a missing person.
,” says Jerrie Dean of