Many legal firms have a secret weapon up their sleeves, to uncover information to help their clients and get to the bottom of any shady dealings. That weapon? A private investigator.
A good boutique investigative agency prepares lawyers and their clients with legally obtained information so they can be prepared for every eventuality. In fact, they prove so valuable that increasingly, companies are hiring their own corporate private investigators.
Having an investigator on speed dial provides a whole range of benefits. Has your company been accused of or implicated in a crime? Investigators can help you dig for information and report all your findings to the authorities to help protect your business.
Need a pre-emptive investigation? If your company is looking to do business with a new partner or take on a new client, you want to know the truth about who you’re getting into bed with. This type of enhanced due diligence is essential, but it can be particularly difficult. You need a creative investigator to follow the money and ensure that everything is above board.
Maybe you have been accused personally of a crime. Working with your lawyers, investigators will delve into those details that may have been overlooked by police to help you prove your innocence.
So how do they find out the information you need while following the letter of the law? It takes ingenuity, creativity, and quick thinking…
Follow the money
In an ongoing criminal case, lawyers can issue subpoenas and receive information in discovery. But what if it hasn’t got that far yet? You need to find a creative way to track the money and narrow down the search. All this while working legally and not jeopardizing the chain of evidence.
In a suspected corporate fraud, for example, investigators may look into companies linked to the suspect and any corporate accounts linked to those. With details of one account, a skilled investigator can find linked banks in other countries, allowing them to trace that spider’s web, issue that subpoena and ask for access to specific accounts.
They can also look at friends, family members and associates who may be living beyond their apparent means. Shell companies; offshore bank accounts; trusts; unregulated philanthropic organizations; small retail outlets with high cash turnover; costly investment and construction projects – all these and more can be used to mask ill-gotten gains.
Get boots on the ground
There is no replacement for human intelligence (HUMINT). Computer work can only take you so far. Good private investigators for businesses check out the information they find online to verify it in person. Something may appear innocent, but by digging deeper, we can find the real truth. Business addresses that don’t check out may be fake or hiding a link to a sanctioned entity. Maybe your potential business partner overseas is concealing slave labor or human trafficking is taking place within the operations.
HUMINT-focused investigators go beyond the computer screen to delve deeper than a desk job can. Ignorance is no defense, and you may be liable yourself if it turns out that your business partner is a criminal. You need to check everything out thoroughly, especially when dealing with companies or individuals abroad.
Speak to the right people
The best investigators want to get to the truth – and they know how to get people to talk to them. By checking out those details and tracking down every last bit of evidence, they can spot holes in a story or pick up a trail to investigate further.
This is every bit as important in white-collar crime as in other criminal investigations. The Owl has conducted interviews that have tripped up suspects and revealed the extent and depth of their wrongdoing. Our HUMINT investigations have even revealed huge holes in police investigations, leading to charges being dropped against the wrongly accused.
It’s not about telling a story for defense or prosecution. Like all great investigators, we just want the truth. Finding the right people to talk to and rigorously interviewing them leads us to the facts and helps us uncover the true story.
Records, records, and more records
Record gathering is a vital part of any investigation, but the amount of paperwork can be overwhelming, in multiple jurisdictions and countries and in a variety of languages. Our multilingual team is used to sorting through mountains of complex documents and weeding out the crucial evidence.
Financial crimes can be especially complicated, with a web of deceit designed to hide what’s going on. Money launderers and financial fraudsters are skilled at burying their crimes in paperwork. You need an equally skilled investigator to track down the truth, follow the money, and document it all properly to bring the criminals to justice.
Track down the truth
As a business, having a corporate private investigator on speed dial is key. They can help you proactively spot any red flags and investigate preemptively. And if the worst happens, and you’re accused of a crime, they can help you protect yourself by conducting a proper investigation to get to the bottom of what really went down.
For a long time, investigators have been the secret weapon of legal teams in criminal and white-collar investigations. But now they’re going corporate.
At The Owl, we understand the importance of discretion, efficiency, and flexibility. We can hit the ground running, as we know that timing can be crucial and deadlines can be tight, with legal cases approaching. Our services are boutique, tailored to your needs, in-depth, multilingual, and multicultural for a global investigation if required.
