DOJ just sentenced three Americans who let North Korean operatives use their identities to work at 136 U.S. companies.

These guys passed video interviews, drug tests, even fingerprinting — and funneled $2.2 million straight to weapons programs. The FBI says AI is making these schemes faster.

The W-2s matched real Social Security numbers and payroll hit real bank accounts. Everything tied out on paper. The people doing the work just weren’t the people on the paperwork.

Know what would have caught this? A standard due diligence background investigation. Not a background “check,” but an investigation.

We see versions of this all the time, minus the North Korea angle. People who nobody actually vetted, with some history that at least deserved some scrutiny.

It all looks fine ’til someone loses an eye.

If you’re involved with acquiring a company, workforce integrity belongs on the diligence checklist. Not an HR audit or a database screening. An actual investigation that verifies the people, the stories, and the facts match, especially with those at the top.

Your due diligence rightly focuses on the Quality of Earnings. Don’t forget the Quality of People™.