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Previous Posts Archives
12/20/2007
FTC Settles With Pretexting Phone Record Thieves
Wired has the full details, including a breakdown of the defendants and associated judgments. Kind of a wimpy showing from the Feds if they expect to deter this type of conduct. NetworkWorld supplies the incredulity.

-- MDT

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12/19/2007
Refco Attorney Faces Fraud Charge
An indictment of Joseph Collins, Refco's lawyer for a decade, has been in the wind for some time. This week it became a reality.

While the murmurs about his own legal troubles swirled, Collins saw his firm, Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw become a class action lawsuit target brought by angry shareholders of the now defunct commodity trading firm.

Collins has plead not guilty to the 11-count indictment filed by U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, which alleges securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy. A separate civil complaint from the SEC was also filed.

Check out further comment on the Collins case from Thomas O. Gorman at Porter, Wright's SEC Action blog. Bookmark the blog while you're there if you follow the SEC. Good stuff.

-- MDT

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Siemens and the SEC Have "Good Conversation"
At least according to the Siemens company spokesman, you also indicated that the talks will be continuing. I bet they will... Meanwhile back at derr ranch, more housecleaning is planned through the start of '08.

-- MDT

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Sports, Officiating and Background Checks
Apparently these are already conducted for many major sports leagues. An interesting story here from Rivals.com that delves into the reasons why. Check it out, sportsfans!

-- MDT
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12/18/2007
Portfolio Covers Spies n the Corporate World
Really interesting stuff here from Conde Nast Portfolio (great magazine, even better website) on the movement of government spooks into the private sector. This article is an absolute must read.

Included in the piece is big coverage of the recent shenanigans at Wal-Mart along with name-checks of spy-heavy investigative outfits like Diligence LLC, GlobalOptions, Trident Group, Kroll and Business Intelligence Advisors.

You'll see reference to many of the recent scandals that have been attached to these names (and covered in this space - click the tags below for past Daily Caveat coverage). You'll also get a bit of history on how spooks came to find their way into the private sector.

Again, highly, highly recommended reading...

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Fed Shred Budget Reaches All Time High
Read into that what you will about the current administration. While you're reading you might also want to factor in what we know about their documented hostility to FOIA.
Annual shredder budget graphage via Radar Magazine.

And, thematically, what better excuse could there be to bring back one of the post popular Daily Caveat posts of all time - Watch it Shred!

-- MDT

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12/17/2007
Schulman Sues Milberg over Legal Bills
The former partner at Milberg Weiss claims that the firm agreed to cover his legal bills subsequent to his guilty plea on the federal kickback case pending against the firm. Schulman has also sued Bill Lerach's former spin-off firm, Coughlin Stoia. More from Peter Lattman at the WSJ Lawblog.

-- MDT

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The State of Pretexting
CSOonline. com - can't say I was previously familiar. But they have an interesting piece up today on the state of pretexting written by Joseph Burton and Gregory G. Iskander both of Duane Morris. Includes a review of the new federal law, a breakdown of the relevant state laws as well as a section on the "Implications for Corporate Investigators."

Check out Pretexting: The Legal Basics, Then and Now right here.

-- MDT

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Siemens New Finance Chief Appointed, Removed
Apparently Hannes Apitzsch was tainted by scandal before he even got he seat warm. Meanwhile, Siemens and the SEC are planning a pow-wow, for today actually.

-- MDT

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12/14/2007
The Economist Eulogizes America's War on Corporate Crime
Using the "funeral" of Conrad Black as the venue. Required reading...

-- MDT

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Under Government Investigation - When to Play Ball
Some advice on the subject from attorney John Gamble, a partner with Fisher & Phillips. Via Law.com

-- MDT

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Biovail Buys it sWay out of Class Action Suit
Of the U.S. suit at least, without admitting any wrongdoing and with no liability. A parallel Canadian suit is still pending, but the company claims to have that just about resolved as well.

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12/13/2007
More Searching at Siemens Offices
Moscow, this time.

-- MDT

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The UK's Independent Takes a Gander at the World of Art Counterfeiting
As I might have mentioned in this pace previously, some of my earliest investigative works was related to historical art theft. Those archival skills came in hand at the time and that world - theft, counterfeiting, reparations, etc. as fascinated me ever since. If the same is true for you, no doubt you'll enjoy this piece from The Independent.

-- MDT

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12/12/2007
Wired Magazine Covers the PI Pretexting Embroglio
Investigators from Washington, California, Oregon, Texas and New York are all involved in this pretexting mess:
Emilio Torrella, BNT Investigations, Washington State
Brandy Torella, BNT Investigations, Washington State
Steve Berwick, BNT Investigations, Washington State
Victoria Tade, C.I., Inc., California
Megan Ososke, P.I. and Information Services, Oregon
Robert Grieve, Robert Greive International, Texas
Ziad Sakhleh, Robert Greive International, Texas
Darci Templeton, sole proprietor, Texas
Patrick Bombino, AAA Allstate Investigations, New York
Esau Pinto, AAA Allstate Investigations, New York
Primaries and subcontractors are both represented here... It seems pretty clear that in the wake of the HP publicity one step removed isn't going to be a helpful buffer when it comes to pretexting / ID theft-related allegations.

And that's a good thing. This kind of conduct is an insult to the investigative process - whereby legitimately obtained public records and source interviews produce actionable information on behalf of clients.

Check out the comments from Wired's information security blog right here and don't miss the link to the full indictment, (filed in the Western District of Washington State) which should make for interesting reading.

-- MDT

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12/11/2007
A Houston Connection to Those Seattle Investigator Indictments
Check out the Houston Chronicle for details.

-- MDT

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British Govt to Circle Back on BAE Prosecution for Another Go.
SoxFirst has the update, as well as word on that Siemens / Nigera business.

-- MDT

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A Little Update on Kroll's Recent Foray into the World of Motorsports
Here's a break-down of the full FIA report from someone who cares about racing a whole lot more than I do.

-- MDT

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Conrad Black Gets 6 and a Half Years
Details via AFX.

And as always, background via the tags below.

-- MDT

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12/09/2007
Kroll, India Hiring
If you're in the market.

-- MDT

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The Confidential Resource
How did I miss these guys over the last year? Investigators writing for investigators - and not badly, at that.

Give'em a look.

-- MDT

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New Federal Charges in Coupon Company Case
Add wire fraud to the $250 million fraud tab of former executives at International Outsourcing Solutions, the largest coupon company in the U.S. The alleged fraudsters are facing somewhere in the neighborhood of 525 years in prison if convicted. Those kitty litter coupons really add up, right? Get the latest details on the case via Yahoo.

-- MDT

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12/06/2007
Man Group Hedge Fund Pays $75 Million Settlement to End Fraud Probe
MF Global, the NY based hedge fund offering from the Man Group has agreed to pay $75 million to settle charges that the fund helped to hide the $180 million Philadelphia Alternative Asset Management (PAAM) hedge fund fraud (in which founder Paul Eustace was recently charged). The CTFC shut down PAAM in 2005 for hiding its own losses from investors.

-- MDT

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12/05/2007
Morgan Stanley Analyst and Spouse Sentenced for Insider Trading
Details via The Daily Intelligencer.

-- MDT

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ExecutiveAction - Mother Jones Takes a Look at Neil Livingstone's New Shop
ExecutiveAction is the new shop from Neil Livingstone, founder of Global Options, an investigative firm he split from in 2006 in a very nasty and public manner. Mother Jones has the humerous/scary details on a recent ExecutiveAction press release concerning deadly spores.

-- MDT

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Diligence IPOC Mess Deepens With Internal Dissention and Another Prominent Investigative Firm on the Scene
This quagmire seems to get nothing but deeper...

The Diligence / IPOC story is a convoluted one, but at the meat of it are two Diligence investigators who apparently pretended to be British Intelligence operatives in order to pump KPMG emplyees for information on an onging money lanudering investigation into the Bermuda based, Russia connected IPOC International Growth Fund.

Diligence was subsequently sued by KPMG alleging bribery, deception, and computer hacking. Diligence was also sued separately by law firm, Barbour Griffith & Rogers, their apparent client in this mess. BG&R had reportedly hired Diligence on behalf of the Alfa Group, an entity competing against IPOC for control of lucrative Russian telecom business.

Meanwhile, a lawyer representing IPOC made claims that another investigative firm, Kroll, had broken into the email of Bermuda law firm, Wakefield Quin, seeking data on the matter. While this claim was ultimately unsubstantiated, Kroll WAS also active in the matter - not in Bermuda, but rather in Europe.

Kroll's IPOC involvement was confirmed by the chair of a Geneva audit panel charged with making decisions about whether IPOC or the competing Alfa Consortium would end up with the rich prize of OAO MegaFon telecom shares - worth about $2.5 billion (and you wondered what all the fuss was about...). Kroll is (was? - need to check on this) currently under investigation by Russian authorities due to their activities in the case.

But I digress. Back to the (relative) here and now. Let's let Law.com do the talking:
Diligence’s problems began in earnest in September 2005. Court documents show that the company accused its then-chief financial officer, Igor Alexeev, of stealing internal documents, directing employees to erase data from Diligence computers, and encouraging workers to leave the company. Nick Day, Diligence’s CEO, fired Alexeev on Sept. 28.

Weeks later, a sheaf of Diligence e-mails appeared at the offices of accounting firm KPMG in Montvale, N.J. The messages detailed an operation straight out of a John le Carré novel. (The document drop and details of the operation were first reported by BusinessWeek in February.)

Posing as British and American intelligence agents, Diligence operatives infiltrated a KPMG office in Bermuda, according to court papers. The goal: to get their hands on a draft audit KPMG had conducted on IPOC International Growth Fund.

The audit contained potentially damaging financial information that could be used against IPOC in a high-stakes fight over control of Megafon, a $1.5 billion Russian telecom.

Diligence had been hired by Barbour Griffith, which, in turn, had been hired by Alfa Group Consortium, a Russian conglomerate, to turn up dirt on IPOC. Alfa was also battling for Megafon and would later use the information from the audit against IPOC in an arbitration over Megafon’s ownership.
Officials at Diligence were virtually certain, according to media reports, that Alexeev had burned their investigation and tipped off KPMG. Claims and counter claims were filed between Diligence and Alexee and the whole thing turn ten shades of ugly, even as the ramifications of Alexeev's alleged leaks took their toll on the company.

Currently the whole mess is in arbitration, which is where the story takes another interesting turn...

Lawyers for Diligence have subpoenaed any communications between Alexeev and Terry Lenzner, head of the DC-based Investigative Group International. The material turned over so far suggests that Winston & Strawn hired IGI to assist in IPOC’s lawsuit against Diligence. Well slap my face and call me Aunt Sally... Beat that for your scandal dollar: Diligence, Kroll and IGI all wrapped up in one tangled international mess.

Check out the full Legal Times article for expanded details. There is also a load of past reportage relating to IPOC available via the TAGS below.

-- MDT

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2 Comments.
Blogger PIAVAsaid...
Well, I'll be dang--Round up the usual suspects!

Tack this on to the Seattle indictment of the 10 private investigators by USDOJ.

Indictment is at http://www.piava.wordpress.com.


Geezzzzz.

Bill Lowrance
President PIAVA
Anonymous Anonymoussaid...
Can someone do an international criminal records search and get the details on Day's rumored incarceration in South America (Columbia??) for bribery?
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12/03/2007
Quick Weekend Catch-Up
This was The Daily Caveat's first weekend of stacked back-to-back holiday parties. We had two-a-days both Friday and Saturday and let me tell you, doing these things is tiring under normal circumstances, but much more so with an infant in tow. So please forgive the lazy presentation of the following:
Samsung Investigation to Reshape Korean Business

Newsday Checks in on the Enron Big Fish

Free E-Book - The Encyclopedia of While Collar Crime

RUDY Running Afoul of FCPA?


Mississippi Tort Star Dickie Scruggs Indicted
There, that should keep you busy till I can get my head together.

-- MDT

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