Employers have been warned to scrutinise CVs thoroughly when recruiting senior management following the resignation of a leading hotel executive who was suspected of lying about his qualifications.
Patrick Imbardelli, head of Asia Pacific operations at the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), resigned after he was confronted about misleading claims he had made about his academic qualifications.
His departure comes just weeks after the company announced he was to be promoted to the board in recognition of his division’s importance within the group.
The company was believed to have been tipped off that Imbardelli had not achieved three qualifications listed on his CV.
Simon Bevan, head of fraud services at business services firm BDO Stoy Hayward, said: “In our experience of investigating frauds committed by senior management, false details in CVs are not an uncommon experience.
“The big question is why wasn’t this first spotted earlier, rather than through a tip-off? We always recommend to clients that they should check the CVs of every employee – especially the senior ones.”
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Many organisations put a lot of effort into checking the CVs of more junior staff, but are less stringent when recruiting senior management, often relying on an individual’s market reputation, Bevan said.
