At least two major cases of fraud hit the national press each week, though many minor cases never reach the media. Here are some real cases where employers have faced difficulties largely because pre-employment screening was inadequate or forgone.

CV Fraud to gain work in the NHS
NHS HR Manager Attah Okoji, aged 41 got a six month sentence at Newcastle Crown Court for fraud - lying about criminal convictions to get a job in a mental health trust in Gosforth. In 2001 he had used his employment as an NHSfinance officer to divert £16,000 into his own bank account, for that he got six months imprisonment.  In 2004 he had been convicted of gaining a pecuniary advantage by gettting a job with Leeds NHS, having failed to declare his convictions, forging his references and submitting false qualifications.  He was sentenced to Community Service!  In January 2009 he received his latest sentence, six months for fraud at Newcastle CC - lying about criminal convictions to get a job in a mental health trust in Gosforth.

A public school teacher with lots of debts steals over £30,000...
PJ, a 36 year old a teacher with lots of debts, stole money from a public school by organising overseas school trips and banking the money in his own account. He was known to be seriously in debt many years before he faced the embarrassment of being arrested in the headmaster's study. County court judgments over several years mounted up to more than £30,000.

Bursar at the Royal Academy of Arts steals £400,000....
TC, a 44 year old bursar at the Royal Academy of Arts, stole almost £400,000 from the institution to win back the affection of his wife after he had been unfaithful. He also stole £29,000 from the restoration fund of his village church where he acted as treasurer, even pocketing Sunday collections. Fearing adverse publicity, officials were allowing him to repay £45,000. But, when he broke undertakings, a police investigation uncovered the extent of his dishonesty, resulting in his prosecution.

Accountant embezzles £3 million...
JM, 36, ran a double life: as the £51K-a-year chief British accountant for American publishing company McGraw-Hill, and as a millionaire playboy with a fleet of sports cars. He set up ghost companies to bill his employer for bogus work, embezzling a total of £3 million.

Failed company director passes himself off as a GP...
DG, 33, was recruited as finance manager at a one-man GP practice. He then pretended to be a GP, conducting examinations of patients for almost six months. Looking into his real background, DG was a former director of companies that had failed. He had been charged with conspiracy to kidnap the doorman of a Blackpool nightclub, for which he received a conditional discharge. He also had other convictions for assault, forgery and deception.

Man has 42 jobs as an anaesthetist without appropriate qualifications...
Dr E-A, 58, claimed to have qualified as a doctor in the Ukraine. He came to Britain in 1973 and by 2000 he had had 42 jobs as an anaesthetist, despite repeatedly failing medical exams. He was dismissed from Falkirk Royal Infirmary in 1993 for temporarily paralysing a woman by administering the wrong drug. He also administered a general anaesthetic to a ten-year-old boy, who died after having a heart attack.

Director of children’s charity is jailed for pornographic material...
A director of children's charity was jailed for three months for downloading 2,000 pornographic images of children on to the charity's computer. J.B, 45, worked for Norfolk and Norwich Families House and admitted to six charges at Norwich Crown Court.

Sexual assault doctor slips through the net...
Dr S was convicted of a serious sexual assault on a nurse, but it was not deemed ‘serious enough’ for him to be disciplined by the General Medical Council (GMC). He assaulted another woman and was later convicted. He got three years probation this time, but no further action was again taken by the GMC. The Health Authority has now been sued.

Solicitor suspended after illegal activity...
A former council legal chief, TH, was suspended indefinitely as a solicitor after she had masqueraded as her sister during a court case. What’s more, her practising certificate had expired some four years earlier.