FAKE IT 'TIL YOU MAKE IT

Florida Man Got Six-Figure Salary Job as City Treasurer With Fake Resume

Ash-Shaqandi “Ash” Benzo allegedly used photos of complete strangers as his business partners. He held the job for nearly a year.

A Florida man managed to secure a six-figure salary job as city treasurer by submitting a fake resume and creating a website detailing his non-existent business deals, The Sun-Sentinel reports. According to a report by Broward Inspector General John Scott, former Fort Lauderdale City Treasurer Ash-Shaqandi “Ash” Benzo reportedly “resigned in lieu of being terminated” in December 2017 due to issues with his job performance. He had held the job for nearly a year, having been hired in January 2017 with a $118,040 salary. Benzo allegedly got the job by claiming he co-founded a company that no longer existed, and used the pictures of complete strangers, a Chicago businessman and a deceased man, to serve as his fictional co-founder and director of client services. Benzo is said to have also falsely claimed he took part in mergers between AOL and Time Warner and audits for the city of Detroit during their bankruptcies. The findings were reportedly passed on to the Broward State Attorney’s Office after the IG concluded that Benso committed an “Organized Scheme to Defraud under state law.” A spokeswoman said the state attorney's office would review the claims and determine “whether there was any criminal conduct.”