Case Studies.
A corporation with multiple, strategically placed retail locations was approached by a prospective investor who wanted to invest in the company in order to fund its expansion.
The business owner initially was not convinced that the proposal was a good opportunity, in part because it represented a loss of control over the company. Nonetheless, he reached an agreement with the investor, and they embarked on the expansion.
A short time later, the original business owner found that the competition had opened stores near some of his company’s existing locations. There were rumours that the competing company belonged to the investor, who was now his new business partner.
The client contracted our team to discover whether his new partner indeed was involved in a competing company and whether the investor was engaged in unethical business practices.
Our team presented the client with a full report of his new partner’s business activities. In the end, the rumor proved untrue. The investor was not funding the new competing company, although the latter had employed one of the investor’s former employees
FCPA investigations sometimes come about as a result of an internal discovery that a company wishes to declare and make public to authorities. Other times, such investigations take place at the demand of regulatory agencies or legal entities.
In this case, the client had received an anonymous message alluding to internal fraud at the company – specifically, the payment of bribes for the purpose of obtaining contracts at one of its foreign subsidiaries.
Our investigative team traveled to the country where the bribes were said to be taking place and immediately began researching the company’s business activity there. In reviewing the subsidiary’s finances and conducting an independent investigation, our researchers discovered large payments to phantom vendors.
Our team interviewed the local employees in their native language, discovering information that would prove essential to the investigation. We gathered documents and electronic information that was analyzed using IT forensics methods. Beforehand, we had worked with the company’s General Counsel and its lawyers to establish the parameters of the investigation and determine what material and documents would be reviewed.
The findings of the investigation allowed the company to understand the workings of the improper activity and identify those responsible.
The business owner initially was not convinced that the proposal was a good opportunity, in part because it represented a loss of control over the company. Nonetheless, he reached an agreement with the investor, and they embarked on the expansion.
A short time later, the original business owner found that the competition had opened stores near some of his company’s existing locations. There were rumours that the competing company belonged to the investor, who was now his new business partner.
The client contracted our team to discover whether his new partner indeed was involved in a competing company and whether the investor was engaged in unethical business practices.
Our team presented the client with a full report of his new partner’s business activities. In the end, the rumor proved untrue. The investor was not funding the new competing company, although the latter had employed one of the investor’s former employees
A client in the petro-chemical products business began noticing unusual, rapid growth by one of its competitors. Our team researched and investigated the source of that growth and found it was due to unfair competition practices by the competitor.
The investigation found that the rival was engaging in a series of illegal acts in several countries. Those acts included the illegal alteration of energy consumption measuring equipment and financial fraud. The investigation also found that the competitor had entered into a manipulative agreement with a provider of technology, designed to prevent the client from obtaining the production equipment necessary for the company to remain competitive
In this case, the client had received an anonymous message alluding to internal fraud at the company – specifically, the payment of bribes for the purpose of obtaining contracts at one of its foreign subsidiaries.
Our investigative team traveled to the country where the bribes were said to be taking place and immediately began researching the company’s business activity there. In reviewing the subsidiary’s finances and conducting an independent investigation, our researchers discovered large payments to phantom vendors.
Our team interviewed the local employees in their native language, discovering information that would prove essential to the investigation. We gathered documents and electronic information that was analyzed using IT forensics methods. Beforehand, we had worked with the company’s General Counsel and its lawyers to establish the parameters of the investigation and determine what material and documents would be reviewed.
The findings of the investigation allowed the company to understand the workings of the improper activity and identify those responsible.
The business owner initially was not convinced that the proposal was a good opportunity, in part because it represented a loss of control over the company. Nonetheless, he reached an agreement with the investor, and they embarked on the expansion.
A short time later, the original business owner found that the competition had opened stores near some of his company’s existing locations. There were rumours that the competing company belonged to the investor, who was now his new business partner.
The client contracted our team to discover whether his new partner indeed was involved in a competing company and whether the investor was engaged in unethical business practices.
Our team presented the client with a full report of his new partner’s business activities. In the end, the rumor proved untrue. The investor was not funding the new competing company, although the latter had employed one of the investor’s former employees
A client in the petro-chemical products business began noticing unusual, rapid growth by one of its competitors. Our team researched and investigated the source of that growth and found it was due to unfair competition practices by the competitor.
The investigation found that the rival was engaging in a series of illegal acts in several countries. Those acts included the illegal alteration of energy consumption measuring equipment and financial fraud. The investigation also found that the competitor had entered into a manipulative agreement with a provider of technology, designed to prevent the client from obtaining the production equipment necessary for the company to remain competitive
In this case, the client had received an anonymous message alluding to internal fraud at the company – specifically, the payment of bribes for the purpose of obtaining contracts at one of its foreign subsidiaries.
Our investigative team traveled to the country where the bribes were said to be taking place and immediately began researching the company’s business activity there. In reviewing the subsidiary’s finances and conducting an independent investigation, our researchers discovered large payments to phantom vendors.
Our team interviewed the local employees in their native language, discovering information that would prove essential to the investigation. We gathered documents and electronic information that was analyzed using IT forensics methods. Beforehand, we had worked with the company’s General Counsel and its lawyers to establish the parameters of the investigation and determine what material and documents would be reviewed.
The findings of the investigation allowed the company to understand the workings of the improper activity and identify those responsible.
The business owner initially was not convinced that the proposal was a good opportunity, in part because it represented a loss of control over the company. Nonetheless, he reached an agreement with the investor, and they embarked on the expansion.
A short time later, the original business owner found that the competition had opened stores near some of his company’s existing locations. There were rumours that the competing company belonged to the investor, who was now his new business partner.
The client contracted our team to discover whether his new partner indeed was involved in a competing company and whether the investor was engaged in unethical business practices.
Our team presented the client with a full report of his new partner’s business activities. In the end, the rumor proved untrue. The investor was not funding the new competing company, although the latter had employed one of the investor’s former employees
Following the advice of our team, the finance director of a transport company today faces a lawsuit for misappropriation by the company in which she worked.
Following the advice of our team, the finance director of a transport company today faces a lawsuit for misappropriation by the company in which she worked. After sending money directly from the company’s account to his, he reloaded the transfers to the expense accounts. Then when I had to do the bank account reconciliation I simply deleted the evidence. He invested the money he misappropriated in cosmetic surgery, a luxury car, high-level travel, jewelry and clothing, as well as an important house.
At first, the detours were small but then they became important. She was very sure that managers were not going to review the papers in detail and she also knew that it was unlikely that an external auditor would be hired, so she was very calm. Since our team provided the necessary evidence, today this person faces legal charges.
A publicly traded company asked our professionals to help it review the internal policies of a newly acquired subsidiary.
The goal was to confirm that the company was abiding by the rules and regulations in the countries where it operated, as well as with the internal policies of its new parent company.
With the guidance of the parent company’s legal department, an IT forensic investigation was conducted by collecting large volumes of electronic information from computers and servers located in several locations.
Working with the client, the team established the parameters of the investigation and determined what information should be reviewed.
The results allowed the client to ensure that its new subsidiary met its standards, as well as taking direct actions in those cases in which deviations were identified. In this way, the necessary issues were corrected by avoiding penalties and penalties by the regulatory bodies.
This task was carried out within the framework of the initiatives undertaken by the matrix to ensure a correct integration of the new operation.
An international telecommunications company had been working on an intensive, high-cost marketing campaign that was expected to have a significant impact on its market.
However, a few days before the campaign was to launch, a competitor launched a suspiciously similar campaign. The client had to stop the planned launch, a move that came at a considerable cost.
Our team began researching the situation, using both traditional and highly technical investigative methods, and found that a key employee had been colluding with a third party to filter confidential information about the campaign to the competitor.