I've been doing payroll for all my life.
We call these types of employees...ghosts.
There's a way to find ghosts on the payroll, more on this later. Just as a background for my fine Freeper friends.
Even without the serious attempt to find ghosts, anyone with half a brain can find them toot de sweet.
One time I took a temp job at a BIG Baltimore hospital. As with most temp jobs, there's a period of time when all is confusing. And I know it might be hard to believe that Baltimore city might have such corruption, heh.
Anyway, I noticed that the security guards, paid by the hospital, almost NEVER had employees come in to pick up their paycheck. So one week, my temp self ordered all employees of the security service to come on in person to pick up their paycheck.
I was constantly getting these phone calls asking me release so-and-so's check early, that he was on a long weekend. And the payroll department, before I stopped the practice go to hell they should have known better, was releasing these paychecks to any Tom, Dick and Harry as ordered by the security service.
"Joe is stopping by Bill's tonight so could you give Bill's paycheck to Joe?"
It took a few weeks but I found at least five security guards that didn't exist!
I also worked at another hospital and one week we did a serious search for ghosts on the payroll.
Here's how it's done. Somebody tell Blanco.
Run a normal payroll. Boom.
Notify the employees a week in advance.....EVERYONE MUST PICK UP THEIR PAYCHECK IN PERSON AND MUST PRESENT PROOF OF employment IDENTITY BEFORE THEY WILL GET IT.
Yeah, it's a pain. In a hospital folks work all kinds of shifts but if you're drop dead serious to find ghosts, do like I did. I was accounting manager at the hospital by the way.
We had payroll come in at three in the am and we had payroll stay over until 8 in the pm that week. Drop dead if you're determined to do your job it CAN be done.
It was a harrowing week that week but we even, hand to God, made the President of the hospital come in and show us his ID before he got his check. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Fortunately we found no ghosts on the payroll of that hospital.
You have no idea how nice it was to continue operations knowing you weren't paying people that didn't exist.
Goes on all over the world. BUT if someone's doing their job it doesn't have to happen. I had the CFO and Board of Directors behind me.
When people care it does NOT happen.
What about direct deposit?
If I was pulling this kind of scam I certainly wouldn't set it up as a check. I would have the money directly deposited into my "I. M. Ghost" checking account. Then I would have it autimatically transferred to my off shore account.
I would never have to touch it and there are many ways to make multi layers of banking so as to never find it.
Thank you for this information, which I found very interesting, BTW. I also thought that auditors are supposed to, at least annually, double check these things, including the security 'system' for protecting organizations from ghost employees. Wouldn't it have been standard practice for the City Auditor to check the payroll practices of the N.O.P.D.?
Yup. About once a quarter I handed out all the paychecks for every employee in the plant. No mail, no substitutes. It's pretty easy to find ghosts, if there are any.
Direct deposit makes this routine harder to implement.
So, the ghosts get paychecks sent to....someone, a PO Box, and address.
How hard would it be to find out who's benefiting?