Investigations

As specialists in digital investigation, we meticulously analyze extensive data sets to unearth valuable insights and trends, navigating diverse languages and formats. Our clientele spans regulators, banks, wealth managers, large corporations, and financial service providers.

Due to stringent confidentiality agreements, we are unable to divulge specific names or detailed information about the investigations below. Nevertheless, these outlined cases offer a glimpse into the pivotal nature and profound impact of our investigative efforts. They underscore the breadth and depth of our capabilities in uncovering crucial insights and mitigating risks for our diverse clientele.

Some examples..

  • Hidden Command & Control Structures

    A bank goes under, who is to blame? Who called the shots? Was there an undeclared command structure running in parallel to the declared board structure? A deep dive into almost a century of corporate filings, coupled with deep web searches to find publicly accessible information yielded some surprising answers.

  • Enhanced Due Diligence

    A private bank in Switzerland was about to acquire a small wealth management business. An internal due diligence check had revealed no red flags, but a board member requested a final external search. This revealed that the business had previously been the subject of a UN Security Council investigation which uncovered direct involvement in illegal trading with known war criminals in DR Congo. The deal was pulled.

  • Asset Tracing

    A public company had won a criminal case against an errant chief executive; but where was the stolen money? As is often the case, perpetrators are not experts when they start their illicit activities and they are prone to making errors that years later can be uncovered and reveal hidden offshore structures, advisors, and finally the likely location of funds. The larger the sum, the more difficult it is to hide.

  • Money Laundering

    High-end diamonds are one of the most effective means of moving significant sums from one jurisdiction to another. This case centred on uncovering the creation of a vertically integrated business with an annual flow of over US$500mn. Once again it was a matter of digging into the past to uncover past relationships and correlate their timelines. Deep web searching revealed a Luxembourg SICAV structure still receiving part of the financial flow, investing significant sums into the global financial markets.

  • PEPs and Perps

    'All that glisters is not gold'. In wealth management reputation takes decades to build and seconds to destroy; so having an in-depth understanding of the reputational risk involved in managing assets for seemingly 'squeaky-clean' clients might save the day. Third-party databases are not always effective in showing hidden pasts, and client onboarding teams are unlikely to be making effective searches in countries like Russia, Syria or Sudan. Are you sure that you have minimised your reputational risk?