Intuitive, technically adept research methods
Asset searches typically involve a lot more than plugging the name of a subject into an investigative database, especially when a subject may be hiding valuable property to avoid detection. In one case, we were hired to identify the assets of the general counsel of a large company who was suspected of breaching his fiduciary duty by accepting bribes. Our database searches readily uncovered property and luxury vehicles for the subject—assets totaling several million dollars—which our client already knew about. However, the client suspected that there was much more evidence of graft to be found.
Our efforts pierced the typical veil of corporate anonymity and alerted our client to existence of tens of millions in previously unknown assets.
We scoured thousands of social media entries, focusing on the subject’s ex-wife’s accounts, and we discovered a photograph of a very expensive yacht, among other assets we had not previously known about. We also uncovered evidence of an extravagant lifestyle, well beyond the means of even the best-paid attorney. We were able to tie the yacht in the photographs to several shell companies registered in a different state. However, because the information this particular state collects and will provide to the public about corporate entities is very limited, we were initially unable to say with certainty whether the boat actually belonged to the subject of our investigation.
Rather than give up, we conducted targeted open records requests to government agencies for other little-known public records that helped us definitively tie the subject of our investigation to the secretive corporate entities. Our efforts pierced the typical veil of corporate anonymity and alerted our client to existence of tens of millions in previously unknown assets.