Man allegedly cheated boss

A Spokane Valley employer has learned the hard way that not checking a job applicant’s references can lead to trouble.

About a month after a chiropractor decided not to call the references listed on a man’s resume because of an apparently stellar job history, the businessman learned his bank account was short more than $9,300.

Joel Dean Davidson, 38, was reportedly writing checks to himself from the business account and forging his employer’s signature, the Sheriff’s Office said. The chiropractor, Travis Broughton, found out when his bank called.

Broughton, who hired Davidson at Children’s Chiropractic Center as an office manager, declined to comment Tuesday.

After a four-month investigation, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office detective Travis Hansen filed an affidavit Tuesday at the county prosecutor’s office to charge Davidson with 24 felonies, including multiple counts of fraud and theft.

The detective said Davidson moved to Spokane about two years ago, and he doesn’t have a local criminal record. Davidson claimed he grew up on the East Coast.

Davidson was doing odd jobs for a manual labor company before he applied at Children’s Chiropractic Center in April, Hansen said.

The resume he gave the chiropractor, which Hansen has a copy of, stated that Davidson owned Fitness Concepts Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio, and that he had been a medical unit adviser, an administrator of neurology, and an administrator for maternal and child health services, all for the U.S. Army. The resume also indicated that Davidson had a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas.

“The business in Ohio didn’t exist, there was no proof that he’d been a student in Texas, and Davidson admitted he’d lied (on his resume),” Hansen said of his investigation. “He was in the Army,” but never in an administrative capacity and not for the 15 years listed on his resume.

But the chiropractor didn’t realize the resume apparently was a fib and hired Davidson on April 22.

Within 30 days, Broughton got the call from his bank about 29 forged checks, Hansen said. After verifying the bank’s claim, the chiropractor returned to his office on North Evergreen Road and called the Sheriff’s Office to report the crime.

He looked for Davidson, but the new office manager had gone to lunch, Hansen said. Davidson never returned. Detectives speculate he saw the patrol car at the chiropractor’s office and figured the jig was up.

Hansen found Davidson after the man allegedly tried to dupe another business.

“He was hired for one day with West Corp.,” Hansen said. “That’s how I found him. When I spoke to managers, they said yes we hired him but we fired him the next day.”

The business had attempted to check Davidson’s references and couldn’t, officials said.

When West Corp. told Davidson to come pick up his paycheck for an hour’s work, sheriff’s detectives were waiting.

Davidson wasn’t in custody Tuesday but could face 12 counts of forgery, 11 counts of second-degree theft, and one count trafficking in stolen property, Hansen said. But investigators have to wait for the county prosecutor’s decision.

“This guy’s good,” Hansen said of Davidson. “He’s convincing.”