Adam Gentile, 39, from Massachusetts, recently pled guilty to embezzling funds from two medical practices from at least 2015 to 2024.

Around 2014, Gentile was hired as an administrative assistant at an unnamed medical practice in Massachusetts. He was promoted to office manager and was given the responsibility of processing payroll and overseeing other recordkeeping.

Beginning in 2015, he embezzled more than $4.5 million from the practice by issuing himself extra paychecks. Some were labeled as "bonuses". He also paid off personal credit cards via the medical practice's bank account.

In 2021, he was hired as office manager at a second unnamed medical practice. His duties also included payroll processing. From 2021 to 2024, he executed a similar scheme by issuing himself extra payments, which he sometimes called "bonuses." Gentile then used the company's bank account to pay off personal credit cards, purchase and upgrade his home, and put money into a side business he ran. This scheme resulted in an embezzlement of $3.3 million.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/sudbury-man-pleads-guilty-carrying-out-78-million-embezzlement-scheme

Commentary

The total cost of the embezzlement for both employers in the above case is $7.8 million. A trusted financial position of authority was utilized twice to carry out a multi-year embezzlement scheme by the same employee.

A striking element of the embezzlement scheme was that the same man carried out the same scheme at a second employer. He even went as far as labeling the additional paychecks as "bonuses", not altering his tactics at all.

This highlights the need for quality hiring and vetting practices for financial positions. Reference checks are not simply administrative box checking tasks. They are a risk control, especially for vulnerable healthcare employers.

Failed attempts at verbal reference checks, written references that only confirm dates of employment, or a background check that stops at criminal record searches are not enough to help protect healthcare employers from fraud.

When hiring for financial roles, healthcare employers should:

· Make their best attempt to speak directly with prior supervisors, specifically asking about the financial duties the employee performed and whether they were satisfactory

· Require the candidate to list every employer for whom they held a financial position

· Run a credit check consistent with state law

· Utilize a third-party verification service

· Ask targeted behavioral questions to uncover instances of fraud

· Document every step of the hiring and vetting process to show reasonable diligence

The final takeaway is hiring practices for healthcare employers must be thorough and accurate to help avoid the risks of a bad hire.