I don't think an HR department would allow a paycheck to be issued to a PO box but having been out from payroll for a few years, who knows? Just requesting such a thing would be quite odd. Folks are funny about their paychecks.
As for finding out who benefits from ghost employees, it would require one of two things...an actual paycheck that must be cashed. Then it's a matter of getting a redeemed check and verifying the signature on back.
If it's a direct deposit payment, then it would require finding out who is owner of the account and who all can draw on it.
With my entire brain tied behind my back I could do it.
It's interesting now that I think about it. But at this current twilight of my career, I do freelance consulting. Indeed I am paid by business owners just to check their operations. Mostly to see if anyone's stealing of if there are holes in their system that would allow it.
Last week I was in a campground office, overseeing their cash operations. Within five minutes I spotted a great big hole and hey, it's such a simple thing.
But when people came in to pay their site fees and if they paid with cash, NO ONE WAS GIVING THEM A RECEIPT!
Now there is way an employee who decided to just keep the cash would get caught. In the case of a mobile home site, there is an accounts receivable ledger. REsidents of mobile homes can be evicted just like apartment dwellers.
Every month the system automatically generates a late list and court proceedings are immediately begun.
It take two to three months to evict someone so landlords start it all off just as soon as a tenant is over five days late.
If an employee just kept cash payments, the receivable ledger would not be updated and court proceedings would begin on a tenant who did pay the rent, albeit to an employee who kept the cash.
Without a receipt for cash, duplicate, neither the tenant or the employee has any record of where the cash went or even if it was paid. Any late paying tenant could claim that they gave the money to JAne Doe Frontdesk. While Jane Doe Frontdesk can deny any such thing.
It's why receipts, with a carbon copy kept in the office, must ALWAYS be given when a cash transaction is made.
It's simple shit like this that causes most employee and intra-company thievery, I'm serious.
I blew off two roofs over this transgression and the property manager immediately implemented a receipt system for all transactions, even checks. Which isn't necessary but save that for next lesson. Cash, however, is, well it's cash. And all that it implies.
Next month, hand to God, they caught an employee stealing in this exact manner. Tenant paid cash for site rent, his receivable account was not updated because JAne Doe Frontdesk just kept the money. Remember the receivable account has to match the cash deposit every damn day. Whatever's debited to receivables should be credited in the checking account.
It ain't rocket science.
If you don't update the receivable account than the daily cash won't be short. No one will ever know if you keep the cash.
Until the tenant gets a court notice and marches into the office with HIS receipt. Signed by Jane Doe Frontdesk.
She got fired immediately. Guess she didn't get it why she had to suddenly start issuing receipts for cash paymanets, smirk, smirk.
I can spot fraud just by looking at a bunch of numbers. I am, not that I am proud of it, very good at it.
Been there. Done that. And for the right fee, I'll oversee all that money to NO and not one dime will go to fraud, guaranteed.
You may be just the guy to ask about this "ghost payroll" thing? I ran into something like this on a much smaller scale. Some years back I heard about a third shift foreman at a local manufacturing plant who kept "ghost employees" actually real people who had quit after a short time. Anyway this guy would file a change of address card with HR for the departed employee and then go and collect his check every week.
I never figured out how he kept the Federal and state revenue people from catching on since money was being withheld and credited to the real persons' tax account which was never covered by a corresponding 1040 filing. Our doesn't the IRS match withholding receipts to filings?
Regards,
GtG