January 2014 - All in Investigations

Computer Forensics Investigations Reveal Truths – Wanted or Not

Computer forensics is not only used for criminal cases, but for civil cases as well. One illustrative case involved a worker who was placed on unpaid leave and then terminated. He filed a lawsuit against his employer alleging violations of the anti-retaliation provision of the False Claims Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as the laws of the state of the occurrence. He told his attorney that several supervisors had conspired against him and that there were emails he had seen to prove it. The attorney obtained subpoenas for the computers of the supervisors and the terminated employee for computer forensics analysis. When the certified computer examiner began the process, he created a digital copy and found something unusual. The unallocated file [...]

A Dogged Determination is a Characteristic of Researchers in a Missing Person Investigation

The investigators at are known in Indiana and beyond for their ability and knowledge in how to locate people. It could be finding a missing heir or other areas of people search. It takes diligence, patience and creativity to track people who have lost touch and don’t have details about the person they are trying to locate. We didn’t know the circumstances behind the story of how a recent caller had lost touch of her adult son, but we did know he was heavy on her mind. She insisted that even though she had observed someone who looked like him twice in the last week. This person was on a busy street and both times she attempted to catch up with him, but she lost [...]

When do You Need a Hidden Asset Investigator?

Here at , we get asked a lot of questions about what we do and can do. Sometimes it is to help a specific client and sometimes it is just curiosity. Asset Investigation is an area that intrigues people and also an area so many people find themselves thinking they might need help. Hiding assets can occur in many situations, but the primary reasons often center on a separation or divorce and when anyone is thinking they are going to be sued. Lawsuits could be for debts, when someone is found guilty of a crime or negligence or even for business reasons. It really comes down to personal liability and sharing assets. Hiding Money in a Divorce When one spouse does not want to share [...]

When an Investigation Takes a Turn, Has the Experts

There is so much to say about employee theft and employee embezzlement investigations that it is difficult to sort it out into just one topic. And that’s what we find the clients of count on us for when they call. We are a one-stop service provider, we can provide whatever services are needed – here, in-house. Our clients don’t have to go to one service provider for handwriting analysis, another for covert surveillance and yet one other for computer forensic analysis or cell tower triangulation. does it all and this is why that is so very important: The attorney for a medium-sized small business contacted our office. His client was the company owner. The owner had caught what he thought was evidence of a long-time [...]

Investigations and Social Security Numbers

Few people think much about their social security number, other than protecting it from identity thieves. But the actual number was – in the past – very telling. conducts a lot of investigation of specific people for a wide variety of reasons: A missing person investigation An identity theft An asset search Due diligence for personal or professional reasons Insurance fraud And a social security number can be a source of leads and information. But a relatively recent change adds some new challenges – and opportunities. The first three digits of a social security number used to stand for something specific. Each state had a certain series of numbers and other groups, like railroad workers, their social security number always began with digits from 700 [...]

What Business Owners Need to Know About Theft by Employees and Employee Embezzlement

Theft by employees is rampant – just ask any business owner or CEO. And when you start talking about employee embezzlement, the impact can be catastrophic to some businesses, especially small businesses, for several reasons: Loss of assets – an employee stealing from a company can take anything from supplies and materials to money away from the company’s resources. Loss of credibility – if a large theft or employee embezzlement is uncovered and reported to the public, the perception of the company may be damaged. The “if they can’t manage their own house, how can I think they can manage mine” theory can result in loss of clients and potential clients – for a long time. Drain on future finances – Seeing a business embezzlement [...]

An Investigation Provides Answers When You Think You Have an Employee Stealing Customers

In order to protect their client list and trade secrets, many businesses formalize confidentiality and non-compete agreements with employees. Client data protection is also an element of the privacy organization strive to maintain. But sometimes employees or contractors see those agreements only as valuable as the sheet of paper they are written on and ignore the legally binding agreement. And it’s not only the people you hire, but family who work in the business, too. has had numerous investigations that revealed family members were involved in clandestine operations – sometimes. For instance, a small family business owner contacted about suspicions he had at work. He thought he had an employee stealing customers – and that employee was his nephew. Not only was he concerned about [...]

Confirm Employee Embezzlement with a Certified Financial Examiner

When an employer is faced with employee embezzlement, you might think that they just fire the person, or call the police and the insurance company. At the minimum, they call the insurance company if they have an employee fidelity policy. What you might not realize is that the insurance company might require proof that funds were actually stolen by the employee. Most employers call their attorneys and smart attorneys call in a firm like Theft in the workplace can be complicated and involve more than a single employee. Theft by employees could also implicate suppliers and clients. A recent case followed a common scenario. The situation where an employee forged checks, cashed the checks and doctored the books and records. called in the Certificated Forensic [...]

Cell Phone Analysis Proves Truth of Alibi

Cell phone forensics is a helpful tool to corroborate an alibi. With just about everyone carrying or using cell phones, there is great potential to uncover the truth. For instance, in a case where a woman was murdered and her boyfriend was suspected, he claimed to have been miles away at the home of another woman. She backed up his alibi. After his defense attorneys were able to meet cell phone legal compliance to obtain the phones of the boyfriend and his woman friend; and go through the legal process for cell records of the dead woman, they were able to piece together the facts. The ‘good-bye’ signal from the dead woman’s mobile came from a location several miles north of the boyfriend’s house. Using [...]

Monthly Archives: January 2014