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Anatomy Of A Fraud

Most fraud victims clam up. In this check-tampering case, the victim-a small-business owner-decided to speak out. The resulting cautionary tale offers a rare, detailed look into the mechanics and psychology of fraud. And its aftermath.

By Scott Berinato

Spherion's complaint twice mentions that Jackson told police that he simply walked into The Rosen Group's office and took the checks. Toby Bishop, president and CEO of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, says that under recent changes to the Uniform Commercial Code, if a company hasn't sufficiently secured its blank check stock, the company will bear some responsibility for its losses.

Spherion also claims that there are at least four false or misleading statements in the SmartCEO article.

Wendy Rosen counters: She claims that not only did the Salvation Army discover the fraud before Jackson's Spherion interview on Feb. 11, but also that the Salvation Army told her that he was fired for poor performance on Jan. 29. Even a simple phone call would have alerted Spherion to the fact that Jackson was, as Rosen says the Salvation Army told her, "not eligible for rehire."

Rosen also claims that the alleged fraud began while Jackson was a Spherion temp.

Rosen says that her check stock was locked in the controller's office. When that door was tampered with, Rosen says she hired a locksmith to fix the door, and also asked an employee to call the police and fill out a report, but the last step was never done.

Rosen says the SmartCEO article can't contain misleading statements about Spherion because it never mentions the company by name.

Laurie Bortz, Rosen's attorney, declined to comment except to say that she will likely file a motion to dismiss the suit.

Game Over

Facing multiple charges of continuing theft, Rahiem Jackson avoided prosecution for more than a year, playing the judicial system as if he built it. Knowing that even a little confusion always causes white-collar cases to be delayed in the overrun Baltimore city courts, Jackson would show up late for hearings, unprepared, without a lawyer. He got his trial rescheduled three times. Facing a judge's final trial date, Jackson failed to show up at all. He was in jail in another jurisdiction, facing accusations of more fraud that occurred after he left The Rosen Group, and while he was dodging prosecution in Baltimore.

He used the same MOgetting placed at small companies using temp firmsbut one recruiting agency, which asked not to be named, did turn him away last February, offering a glimpse into how this saga could have been avoided. The agency verified with a phone call that at least one degree listed on Jackson's résumé was false. His résumé said Jackson last worked at American Craft—the name of one of Rosen's websites—before he shipped off to Iraq, and that American Craft was out of business when he returned from duty. An executive did a Google search and found that American Craft was still in business. So the executive called and got an astonished Wendy Rosen on the other end.

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