>>I imagine that someone who really would steal is also dishonest enough to lie on the question.

Bingo!

I do expect that there are attempts to filter out overly intelligent people for some jobs. There was a lawsuit in Connecticut by an applicant who scored too high on the police exam and was denied a job. He lost the case, and established the right for police to reject people for being too smart as they might get bored or something (sorry, I don't have a link on hand).

But, as you point out, this question filters out only the honest and intelligent people.

It leaves you with the pool of people who are either dull or dishonest. Classic HR fail.