How Independent Investigators Can Help During All Stages of Fraud and Internal Investigations
Some internal investigations involve theft or fraud but not all, and not all fraud happens in the workplace but instead can be a bad actor(s) targeting an individual. Clients confronting all manner of internal and external fraud and workplace investigation scenarios retain us.
221B Partners helps clients untangle these knots and get to the truth through a combination of stakeholder and witness interviews; backgrounding and profiling subjects of interest through public records and open-source research; reviewing emails, financial records and other documents; analyzing digital data; surveillance; and, at times, liaising with law enforcement.
Why Using an Outside Investigator Can Be Essential
As experienced investigators, we tailor our approach and methodology based on a variety of factors depending on case circumstances and client objectives. The benefits of using a third-party, independent investigative team include:
- Serving as unbiased, impartial and objective fact gatherers
- Experience in taking statements and conducting interviews, and assessing
the credibility of those interviewed - Providing employees with confidence that their employer is taking the
claims seriously and protecting the integrity of the investigation - Avoiding issues with colleagues interviewing one another
- Experience with preserving collected evidence and chain of custody
protocols - The need for an independent report, confidentiality, and/or attaching
privilege when hired through counsel - Deep experience with public records and open-source research and finding
past patterns of similar behavior - Ability to thread together complex issues and / or evidence
- Access to myriad research databases and tools
Internal investigations and fraud matters come in myriad shapes and sizes. They can be limited to one location or span the globe. Whether it relates to sexual harassment and racism in the workplace, theft or diversion of company merchandise or products, or credit card or payroll theft, 221B Partners can help clients sort through the questions and remediate. Our team comprises former law enforcement professionals, journalists and research and investigative technologies experts who have located and interviewed hundreds of witnesses, reviewed thousands of phone records and emails, found previously unknown connections and associations in criminal enterprises and class action suits and provided law enforcement with everything from leads to confessions.