A former NASDAQ employee, Donald Johnson recently pleaded guilty to defrauding investors of over $750,000.  In this day and age, that amount is child’s play compared to some of the high profile fraud cases we’ve seen over the last couple years, but that’s really here nor there.  The thing that has left one Forbes blogger scratching her head is that this crime was totally avoidable.

All NASDAQ had to do was to conduct a thorough background check and they would have known that Johnson’s past would have provided a clear snapshot of what his future tenure with the company might hold.

According to Joelle Scott, “Nasdaq hired Johnson in 1989.  Three years prior, the Virginia Board of Nursing commenced an investigation into Johnson.  He had been working at Fairfax Hospital and, as a result of the investigation, according to the records from this department, Johnson admitted he had not only consumed Schedule II drugs while on duty as a nurse but also falsified hospital records in order to steal these drugs from the hospital.  Johnson was discharged from the U.S. Army Reserves where he was a captain and served as a nurse.”

Surely, a Professional License Verification with the Virginia Board of Nursing would have revealed information that would have raised red flags about Johnson.

NASDAQ claims to have conducted a background check on Johnson at the time of his hire, to which Scott reserves comments which should be shared over and over again with the myriad politicians and government agencies who seek to limit or ban the use of these vitally important employment screening practices.

“As we have explained to clients (both potential and existing) for over 20 years, comprehensive background checks are designed to uncover this sort of information to protect investors, board members, corporations and others.  Contacting licensing departments and appropriate regulatory bodies is an essential component of background checks.  This includes not only identifying any sanctions or disciplinary actions filed by the major regulatory agencies (SEC, FINRA, etc.) but also independently reaching out to government bodies that oversee the professions in which an individual has been involved from OSHA to the Departments of Nursing. These agencies provide critical information about an individual.

Johnson is one of many.  We have seen numerous people lie about degrees received from Ivy League schools and certifications received (yes, people still lie about this stuff!) and, like Johnson, people who voluntarily do not disclose their troubled pasts hoping no one will check.”

Click here for more information about what employers in the financial services industry should consider when screening potential candidates.

Dubai’s Health Authority (DHA) has suspended the medical license of a physician currently under investigation for causing the death of a patient in the United Kingdom.  Dr. Mitra Nikkhah has been charged with manslaughter caused by gross negligence in the death of an elderly patient.  Dr. Nikkhah allegedly prescribed penicillin to the patient despite being told by his wife he was allergic to the drug.  A month after being charged with the crime, Dr. Nikkhah had relocated to Dubai and had begun practicing medicine there.  DHA had not performed a background check or a license verification on the doctor before granting her a medical license.  The DHA now affirms that they will conduct background checks and license verifications on all incoming physicians and all physicians currently working in the country.

According to this article, this isn’t the first time DHA had granted a medical license to a physician who had previously lost his license in the U.K.  So, why didn’t they think to check backgrounds and verify licenses back then?

Fool me twice, shame on me!

Officials to investigate physicians’ histories

By Mitya Underwood, The National – November 18, 2008

DUBAI // Health officials revealed plans to conduct background checks and verify the licence of every medical professional working in the emirate.

The announcement coincides with the trial in the UK this week of a Dubai-based doctor accused of killing a patient by giving him the wrong medication.

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said it would follow closely the criminal case against Dr Mitra Nikkhah, who was apparently practising in Dubai a month after she was charged in the UK. It has already suspended Dr Nikkhah’s licence and said it would take further action against her if necessary.

The DHA said it had been planning the background checks before Dr Nikkhah’s case came to light. The checks are to include examining employment records.

They will be incorporated in a four-year overhaul of the emirate’s healthcare system begun in June, under which about 15,000 medical professionals will be required to reapply for their licences.

Dr Nikkhah, 41, was working as a locum GP in a health centre in Plymouth, England, in May 2006 when she allegedly prescribed penicillin to an elderly patient, despite being told he was allergic to the drug.

The patient, David Townsend, 73, went into anaphylactic shock and died, the Plymouth Crown Court heard at the start of her trial on Monday.

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Be wary of who you are hiring!  When hiring someone from a foreign country a title of “doctor” can mean many things.   Utilizing a solid global screening or international screening program is more important than ever.  Simply verifying a professional license or checking the equivalency of a license could make a big difference.  Imagine the embarrassment of hiring a doctor only to find out he is a doctor of nothing!

Highly “Educated” Dictators of Tehran

The fiasco of the clumsily forged Oxford doctoral diploma of the Iranian interior minister is comically tragic. Unfortunately for the interior Minister Ali Kordan, he will not be able to join the elite group of Dr. Ahmadinejad, Dr. Larijani, Dr. Khatami, Dr. Maleki, Dr. Rezaii, Dr. Motaki, Dr. Jajili and a thousand other officials with a PhD degree any time soon. However this debacle raises the question, why Tehran´s rulers feel the need to carry the title of “Doctor” to govern?

More than anyone else, these inept executives are conscious of their own incompetence. Most of them have climbed up the same four step career ladder: Revolutionary Guard, prosecutor/torturer/executioner, provincials governor, city mayor or division director, and finally minister/MP/president. Their busy vocational path has left little time for learning skills needed to run the government. Purchasing a PhD diploma has been the logical choice for these rulers to purge intellectuals and educated workforce, and place themselves better to rip off the county´s wealth.

The popularity of the doctoral title among the theocratic dictators is also due to the ill reputation and disgrace associated with religious titles such as “Hojatoleslam” and “Ayatollah” among people. Such religious titles in Iran are now symbols of demagogy, brutality, and despotism.

For those officials who are engaged in interactions with the international communities , such as nuclear negotiation teams, or ambassadors, the doctoral title is used to conceal insincerity and deceitful intents and cunning tactics.

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