California Semiconductor Executives Investigated for Credential Falsification

California companies complete background checks for a number of reasons. These checks allow prospective employers to review an applicant’s criminal history, credit report, and past employment. The last of these three is perhaps least well known because employers more often rely on résumés to detail an applicant’s work history and experience. However, a recent event concerning a California executive’s phony credentials may make employers scrutinize that aspect of the background check a little more closely.

Broadcom executive falsified education

According to reports, Broadcom Corp., a broadband and wireless business headquartered in Irvine, California, had to fire their senior vice president, Vahid Manian, when a background report garnered from Barry Minkow’s Fraud Discovery Institute revealed he had falsified educational credentials he had filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission . He claimed he had received a “B.S.E.E. and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Irvine.”

Broadcom’s statement was short and to the point, stating simply that “the employment of Vahid Manian, Senior Vice President, Global Manufacturing Operations of Broadcom Corporation . . . was terminated.”

Microsemi executive under investigation

This is not the only recent occurrence of falsified credentials. Microsemi, another semiconductor company specializing in aerospace and communications manufacturing, was in the news with one of its executives, James J. Peterson, denying claims that he had falsified his educational experience. Though he claims to have received a “B.A. in business administration and an M.B.A from Brigham Young University,” the Minkow Report could find no evidence of either of these degrees.

In a press release, Peterson said, “I am working directly with the university to clarify this situation. It appears that the background check there may have mistakenly been made with the name ‘James J. Patterson.’” However, a spokesperson with Brigham Young maintained “that she checked degree records again and couldn’t find any record of a degree for Peterson. She said she had been checking the right name.”

In addition, Minkow’s background check showed the correct birth date and social security number had clearly been used, making the likelihood of error smaller than ever. Ironically, both men served on the Board of Directors of STEC Inc. and Peterson admits that he “had vetted and hired Manian when the two worked for Silicon Systems Inc.” back in the 1990s. Worse news than this came when the Fraud Discovery Institute investigated the board and proved that “two of four members of [STEC Inc.’s] audit, compensation, and nominating committees used phony credentials in SEC filings.”

In each of these cases, more complete analysis of background information might have prevented these men from being hired using falsified credentials. We offer this crucial service to employers in California so they can be sure they can find the applicants they’ve been looking for.

OIG – GSA search

We get contact from time to time about being able to facilitate bulk ordering of the OIG and GSA search.  Most all know that it is a free search you can do online but when you need to 20,000 names each around the same time it can be time consuming.  Many companies outsource the service.  We are one of few companies that can take well over 20k names and can upload them in a click of a button and get results within hours.  These type of services can be niche with in the industry and we do it better than anyone.   All we need is a spread sheet with the appropriate info and we take care of the rest.  We can also provide subscription services for companies that need to run the OIG and GSA search one a quarter or once a month.  Bulk orders of the search are needed by many companies large and small and we can help you out.

We can also integrate the ordering of the OIG and GSA searches via our xml.  This can work with any software platform to make it that much easier.  We can send, per request, a copy of our XML guide and API info.

Here is a bit of info about these databases.

Mission

Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) mission is to protect the integrity of Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) programs as well as the health and welfare of program beneficiaries.

Who We Are

Since its 1976 establishment, OIG has been at the forefront of the Nation’s efforts to fight waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare, Medicaid and more than 300 other HHS programs.

HHS OIG is the largest inspector general’s office in the Federal Government, with more than 1,700 employees dedicated to combating fraud, waste and abuse and to improving the efficiency of HHS programs. A majority of OIG’s resources goes toward the oversight of Medicare and Medicaid — programs that represent a significant part of the Federal budget and that affect this country’s most vulnerable citizens. OIG’s oversight extends to programs under other HHS institutions, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration.

What We Do

We carry out our mission using a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach, with each of our six components playing a vital role.

A nationwide network of audits, investigations, and evaluations results in timely information as well as cost-saving or policy recommendations for decision-makers and the public. That network also assists in the development of cases for criminal, civil and administrative enforcement.

OIG develops and distributes resources to assist the health care industry in its efforts to comply with the Nation’s fraud and abuse laws and to educate the public about fraudulent schemes so they can protect themselves and report suspicious activities.

Not everyone does background checks

This is a startling video from a couple months ago that shows the dangers of using services companies that don’t background check on their employees.  Now, we have written many times about how background checks aren’t perfect and it is possible to do a check on someone and not find criminal offenses.  We have also discussed many times that you should always do background checks not matter what.  It is very important to do your best to find the history of your employees not only for the safety of your business but for employees and the consumers that use your service.  Here is the video from today.com

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