ghost employees
Payroll fraud scheme
Ghost employees are workers who exist on a company's payroll but don't actually work there—or don't exist at all.
The scheme typically involves someone with payroll access creating fictitious employees or keeping terminated workers on the books, then pocketing the wages.
It's a common form of payroll fraud: The audit uncovered twelve ghost employees collecting six-figure salaries.
- phantomInsubstantial apparition
- payrollStaff wages collectively
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- fictitiousNot real, invented
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
shell · shell companies · kickback · corruption · white collar crime · audit · internal controls · scheme · padding · off the books · bogus · fabricated · collusion · skimming · nonexistent · scam · hustle · cooked books
- corruptioncorruption, graft, kickbacks, bribery, bribes
- fraudscam, fraud, swindle, con, deceive
- embezzlementpeculation, defalcation, misuse of funds, misappropriation, siphoning
- financial crimesbank fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, tax fraud, insurance fraud
- financial fraudsecurities fraud, bank fraud, accounting fraud, defalcation, embezzler
- fiscal abusegraft, kickbacks, misappropriation, misuse of funds, waste