ABSTRACT
There is one area of central government where it is hard to imagine that fraud could easily occur, simply because it is an area with many built in checks and balances in the system. At the higher levels of potential risk, candidates for posts with access to information affecting national security will have background checks performed on their bonafides and suitability before their government allows them to take up post or promotes them to such a sensitive position. Despite the need for systems of appointment to be robust and all the counterbalancing checks in place, the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), responsible for arranging background checks on individuals recruited to sensitive posts across central government, including the military, found that a number of its own contractors had lied about carrying out checks of individuals.
