one caucasian business man holding dry clean clothes in silhouetWhen Marcus reflected back on how he felt a few months ago, before his attorney hired a private investigator, his knees felt weak. For a long time, Marcus feared that he might never be able to prove the truth. He feared that he might be unjustly sentenced to a prison term. He worried that he would lose his family and all that he worked for so many years to financially achieve.

First, Marcus spent long hours searching for clues. He tried in vain to speak to detectives at the police department. But it seemed that everyone assumed he was guilty long before a trial date was even set.

As the weeks rolled by, Marcus became more upset. He was frustrated and felt like he was living a nightmare. By the time Marcus realized that he was quite frankly in the fight of his life, his attorney convinced him he needed someone else besides his lawyer on his team.

When professionals like results-oriented get on the job, things happen. He wasted no time in setting up a meeting to tell his story. Together, Marcus and came up with a plan and Marcus turned over the computers used in his business. Now here he sat, confident on this first day of the trial, months after private investigators had dug up the digital evidence to provide justice.

Marcus could barely glance at Pete, his former business partner. In fact, Marcus could hardly stomach a glance at the guy who nearly cost Marcus his future. Thanks to efforts made by computer forensic experts at , pertinent information would be provided to the court.

A certified computer examiner used data extraction software and data mining software for a complete forensic computer investigation on each computer individually. Marcus suspected Pete, but wasn’t certain how deep the financial investigation had to go. He didn’t know if he had been the target of theft by employees or corporate espionage, too.

Marcus had been accused of fraud and there were suspicions he was laundering money through his dry cleaning business. Marcus knew he was innocent, but there had to be something authorities had found to suspect him.

The digital forensic analysis showed that most of the computers were clean, which was a great relief to Marcus. However, when the computer forensic examination of Pete’s computer was finished, the results were less pleasing. For more than a year, Pete had been skimming money from the business and then transferred the money into various bank accounts, using phony business names.

At that point, the forensic investigator turned into a computer forensic expert witness to reveal the methods and protocols used to secure and preserve evidence as well as document the evidence found.

But it didn’t end there. After the digital forensic investigation revealed the flow of money, physical evidence was also collected. A forensic examiner conducted a handwriting analysis to confirm Marcus’s had been victimized by forged signatures on documents, contracts and bank records. In addition to document forgery, forged checks had been processed with Marcus’s name on them.

Thanks to the expert skills and persistence of professionals such as , Marcus had a future again. When the truth matters, call on .

-Brenda McGinley, CEO, All in Investigations, All in Investigations