By John Beard; CPA, CFE Wouldn’t it be nice to have a crystal ball or to be clairvoyant in forecasting potential business issues such as internal fraud? Unfortunately, the vast majority of us are not psychic and instead have to rely on an investigative function to...

Horror stories abound about smooth-talking con men talking people out of their money. To pick up the newspaper is to be practically assured of reading about another account. Often, the swindler can fool smart, accomplished people into going along with some scheme...

The media is filled with accounts of fraud artists who wreak havoc on unsuspecting victims, only to move on and take up in another place, then engage in a repeat performance. Chronic perpetrators of fraud usually leave a trail of evidence of illicit behavior in their...

The rising cost of living has led countless industrious individuals to take jobs or start companies on the side in order to make ends meet. This is the way that many successful companies have gotten their start. It is also one of the hallmarks of our great free...

One of the most unfortunate wastes of fraud investigation resources is conducting surveillance at the wrong location. Often such waste can be attributed to a failure to conduct the proper advance research to verify a subject’s residential whereabouts. People move and...

Criminal background checks, long a means of screening potential employees for patterns of illegal behavior, are increasingly coming under restriction by governing bodies. This particularly applies to crimes that do not constitute moral turpitude. This is especially...

Conducting surveillance is a juggling act between balancing the desire to obtain the client’s desired result with the risk of pressing the coverage in a way that might be construed as harassment – or even stalking. Knowing the legal limits and when to say when is an...

Over the years we have seen many cases in which a client sues and is awarded a judgment in response to some tortious act, only to have the defendant seek protection in bankruptcy court. It is not uncommon for judgment debtors to further attempt to hide assets from the...

Summer vacation season is here. The long needed and anticipated break from the daily grind is about to materialize. As you begin to compile your list of items to pack, take a moment to also make a list of things to leave behind. Specifically, consider things to make...

These days, the investigative process is prone to become bogged down in data. The wide array of systems and sources that supply information about companies and individuals frequently throw out volumes of chaff. Thus, separating out the kernels of wheat among the...

The most important decisions when conducting a witness interview are whether or not to record the conversation, and if you should notify the witness when a recording is being made. In Texas (and 38 other states), as long as you are a party to the conversation, it is...

The unmanned aerial system (UAS) - commonly known as a drone - is becoming more common in investigations. Many police departments now deploy special squads that utilize the UAS for a variety of law enforcement purposes. Private investigators also commonly call on the...

Sam Castorani, our director of security operations, taps his Italian roots to share a recipe from his Delaware family cookbook for a delectable stew that will help warm you during this transition from winter to springtime. Buon Appetito!

Most companies with effective audit controls and policies have some degree of prohibition against the awarding of jobs and contracts to close friends, relatives, and business partners of employees. This helps the company avoid the perception of favoritism and prevents...

Many a business is built upon the foundation of trusted employees interacting closely with suppliers and valuable clients. When employees and their major clients leave at the same time, it can have a crippling effect. In one such matter worked by the team at...

Imagine a scenario in which one of your valued employees, located in a state where recreational marijuana use is illegal, suddenly tests positive for tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC - the intoxicant of marijuana, following a routine urinalysis conducted in accordance...

For several years, a Houston corporate client had used ResultQuest to conduct extensive pre-employment background investigations of job candidates. However, they opted not to perform a background regarding an individual who was hired as general counsel then eventually...

One of the easiest and most common ways for a fraudster to come away with ill-gotten gains at the expense of the employer or contractor is through expense reports. Policies regarding the detail in which expenses must be submitted for reimbursement vary widely, and...

Companies often make substantial investments in assets such as machinery and equipment. Improper asset control procedures and policies can lead to misuse, abuse, and theft of these valuable assets. The professionals of ResultQuest have repeatedly been called on for...

A Texas labor law firm employed ResultQuest to investigate a group of highly trusted and compensated experts in their specialized technical field. After suddenly severing their employment with a trading firm, a resultant IT audit revealed that one member of the group...