Insights

May 26, 2022 | Institutional Integrity Investigations

Many faith communities across the spectrum are taking a breath and asking themselves hard questions after this week’s release of the investigative report into the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee conducted by Guidepost. Sexual abuse and harassment are not unfamiliar issues for either private or public organizations. While we detail a long list of recommendations specific to our investigation in our report titled, “The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee’s Response to Sexual Abuse Allegations and an Audit of the … Read More

July 28, 2021 | Investigations Investigations + Due Diligence

One of the most spectacular crimes in recent European history occurred in 2009 during the Dutch national holiday Queen’s Day. In an assassination attempt, a 38-year-old Dutchman drove his car through a crowd of spectators toward an open bus carrying Queen Beatrix and other members of the royal family. Although no one from the royal family was harmed, seven spectators were killed and ten were seriously injured.

The story of the Queen’s Day attack is recounted in “Murder in … Read More

June 8, 2020 | Investigations

I read my first Sherlock Holmes novel in Farsi at the age of 11 in the bombed-out suburbs of Tehran. In post-revolution Iran – during a war, food rations, military conscription, and nightly air raids – it was a rare pleasure, and solving complex problems became my passion. I became the self-declared investigator of lost pets, soccer balls, and toys in the neighborhood. I took notes, marked evidence, and exercised my deductive reasoning skills.

When I immigrated with my family … Read More

May 19, 2020 | Due Diligence

Vetting potential business partners or investment opportunities for “red flags,” is critical to fully understanding potential risks before signing a contract. However, not all due diligence investigations are routine, as I was recently reminded with two cases that posed the following questions: 1) Is it enough to do only US-based due diligence on a foreign entity; and 2) What is the best way to conduct due diligence on a newly formed entity?

Looking Abroad

For investments in a foreign company … Read More

May 4, 2020 | Compliance Investigations

As we continue to work through the new world of COVID-19, it’s important not to lose sight of what is almost certainly on the horizon – post-COVID investigations. The federal government has poured trillions into not only containment and treatment, but also financial stimulus. In order to facilitate greater flexibility for healthcare providers attending to the onslaught of pandemic-related needs, the feds are waiving certain requirements. Nevertheless, healthcare facilities should be implementing careful compliance practices to help avoid potential claims … Read More

April 28, 2020 | Investigations

This week the White House and Congress agreed on a $484 billion funding deal to help small businesses, hospitals and Covid-19 testing. The spending package’s passage infuses another $310 billion into the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), $60 billion of which was set aside for regional banks, community-based lenders and credit unions with an added $10 billion to cover lenders’ administrative costs. There’s also $60 billion allocated in the legislation for the Economic Injury Disaster Loans Program, which covers grants for … Read More

April 27, 2020 | Investigations

COVID-19 and Your Pending Workplace Investigations

While our lives are changing in dramatic ways that tend to make us feel more isolated and insecure, the world of workplace investigations continues to move forward. Workplace investigations are built on a foundation of thorough effort that is conducted fairly and confidentially and is performed in a timely fashion. The novel coronavirus has the capacity to tilt the factors of timeliness and fairness on their axes.

COVID-19 dropped on the scene unannounced, and … Read More

April 3, 2020 | Investigations

International fraudsters are already exploiting the Coronavirus and new federal CARES Act aid, relief, and stimulus programs, which include emergency cash payments to individuals and businesses. Expect the fraud attempts to continue throughout and after the pandemic.

Criminals are using various means to contact potential victims, including:

• spoofed (forged sender/header) email and phone calls posing as U.S. Treasury officials requesting potential victims provide personal identifying information (“PII”) to receive aid payments; and

• text messages with links to official-looking … Read More

January 27, 2020 | Due Diligence Investigations

According to the Department of Justice, Sultan Issa, the former Chief Financial Officer of a group of partnerships, corporations and trusts owned by a Chicago-area family, recently pled guilty to embezzling over $65 million. “Simply, I lied to a lot of people and I stole their money,” Issa told U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood. “And financial institutions as well.” Issa used his position of trust to steal money to fund his lavish lifestyle for nearly a decade. How did his … Read More

August 20, 2019 | Due Diligence Investigations

A recent article from the Wall Street Journal discusses the resignation of the Care.com CEO after an earlier investigation reported on the inadequate vetting of the company’s caregivers. “Ms. Marcelo’s resignation as CEO comes after the Journal’s investigation in March found instances in which caregivers hired through the Care.com platform had police records and were accused of committing crimes while caring for clients, including child abuse, sexual assault and murder.”

This is truly alarming, and of great concern to those … Read More