Sounds like they knew he wasn't an employee. What they didn't know was if he was associated with some high profile account and whether an employee (generally in

Sounds like they knew he wasn't an employee. What they didn't know was if he was associated with some high profile account and whether an employee (generally in sales or marketing) had inadvertently signed up the company to sponsor the guy in that competition. Better to check internally (and chew out your employee for overpromising if needed) than to accidentally jeopardize a large account by calling the guy a fraud or ignoring him and it turning out to be true.