A Philadelphia Eagles player was the victim of theft by a person he trusted – an employee of a security firm. Late last month, Eagles offensive lineman, Todd Herremans made news headlines, but not for an Eagles victory. A 37-year-old man named Robert von Ryan is charged with bank fraud, allegedly stealing more than $225,000 from Herremans’ bank account.

As a parking lot attendant at the team’s hotel, von Ryan was able to obtain a checking account number from the Eagles player’s vehicle. He then transferred approximately $225,034.52 over the course of four years, moving the money via computers, phones and other electronics. The Eagles organization has confirmed von Ryan was a subcontractor for a security company called Staff One and not an Eagles employee.

The scheme was uncovered by Herremans’ financial advisor and an investigation into von Ryan’s background revealed a previous theft conviction. When questioned, the security firm said the background checkthat was conducted returned no criminal hits.

A baffled Herremans told CBS Philadelphia,

“Maybe they need to do a better background check, I guess they didn’t.”

If convicted, von Ryan could spend up to 30 years in prison, and a $1 million fine.

 

HR Expert Opinion:

While avoiding the appearance of playing the “Monday night quarterback,” – pun intended, we are compelled to highlight the unfortunate missteps which contributed to this bank fraud scheme.

This case illustrates clearly two important U.S. societal trends in recent times (1) the continuing rise of identity theft, and (2) the need for employers to perform quality employment background checks.

Identity Theft

The need to protect and secure valuables in one’s vehiclescannot be overstated. Some of the more obvious items we consider valuable aresmartphones, cash, cameras, purses and laptops. But equally and arguably even more valuable is personally identifiable information (PII). This type of information includes social security numbers, phone numbers, date of birth, bank and credit card account numbers, driver’s license and passport number and home address. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, 87% of the U.S. population can be uniquely identified using only gender, date of birth and zip code. So it’s not just the most obvious types of PII, like credit card numbers, that require protection.

The statistics continue to spotlight identity theft as the number one rising crime in the U.S. In fact, identify theft is expected to surpass traditional theft as the leading form of property crime. [http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/04/14/identity-theft-growing/2082179/ ]

Given this pervasive national trend, all persons includingTodd Herremans should avoid leaving PII in automobiles. While this may be unavoidable at times when shopping or running errands, it is particularly important to remove PII when valet parking or leaving a vehicle unattended for long periods of time.

Employment Background Checks

The risk to employers for failing to properly vethires is evident in this situation. Beyond the potential of a tarnished image, and lost customers, employers can be held accountable for negligent hiring – if it can be demonstrated that reasonable steps were not taken to ensure public and workplace safety and security.

So, the question remains, did the employer conduct a proper employment background check on Robert von Ryan? For instance, if they conducted the background check relying onlya national database scan, then most U.S. courts if sued could decide that an appropriate background check was not conducted, and rule in favor of a negligent hiring claim.

Alternatively, if the employer conducted a thorough background check, then it would be difficult to justify a negligent hiring claim.

A proper background check at a minimum would have included:

• Conducting a social number (SSN) trace to uncover current and all previous addresses of the subject
• Searching for felony and misdemeanor records all county courthouses based on SSN trace
• Searching for felony and misdemeanor in federal district courts based on SSN trace
• Conducting a national multi-jurisdictional database scan for felony and misdemeanor records
• Conducting a motor vehicle records search to verify the subject had a valid driver’s license that is not revoked or suspended
• Researching the statewide sexual offenders database
• Verifying previous employment and/or military status
• Administering a pre-employment drug test

Given the alleged circumstances in this case, it is difficult to believe that a proper background check was performed.

For additional information and guidance on how to legally and effectively conduct background checks, contact Leon Singletary,President and CEO at First Contact HR. He can be reached on 267-419-1390.