Well, not me personally. That would be one miss Mary McFate -- aka Mary Lou Sapone, a "research consultant" who specialized in infiltrating activist groups on behalf of corporate clients.

Since the mid-1990s, Sapone, under her maiden name McFate had worked her way up the food chain of no less prominent a public interest group than the Brady Campaign against hand gun violence, where she held a board position.

Of course, it wasn't her deep commitment to the cause that brought her there - it was a check from the National Rifle Association (which apparently came to Sapone via security firm, Beckett Brown International).

Crazy stuff, right? In point of fact it happens all the time, but rarely are these kinds of operatives outed in such noisy and embarassing fashion. You can read all about Mary Lou over at Mother Jones.

-- MDT

Labels: corporate espionage, Mary Lou Sapone, NRA

Here's a new blog for me from another Kevin (see preceding post). This time, its Kevin's security blog and the subject is corporate espionage. Specifically, the arrest of AMX Corporation vice president, David Goldenberg, on suspicion of same. Check it out.

-- MDT

Labels: AMX Corporation, corporate espionage, David Goldenberg

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...

Labels: BIA, CondeNast Portfolio, corporate espionage, Diligence LLC, GlobalOptions, Kroll, Trident Group

Follow this one from the Legal Brief summary on through to the Sun Times article and to the International Bar Association website for their comments. Preliminary info is available now, with a full report expected in November 2007. South Africa currently has no laws protecting businesses from espionage activities.

-- MDT

Labels: corporate espionage, International Bar Association, South Africa

We've written extensively in the past on the Bermuda-based end of the scandal surrounding the IPOC investment fund, KPMG and investigative firm, Diligence. Diligence got caught with its mits in the cookie jar trying to pry sensitive information about an IPOC audit out of KPMG. Kroll, probably the most prominent investigative firm around, was also at least implicated in the back-and-forth clandestine activities between the two sides in the IPOC dispute.

Kroll WAS also active in the matter but not in Bermuda - in Europe. The EU-based accusations (dumpster diving, attempting to access private bank accounts) come from Bernard Meyer-Hauser, 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. Kroll is currently under investigation by Russian authorities due to their activities in the case.

The back-story here is, well.....complicated. Law.com has an excellent overview of the entire affair, from start to finish. This is required reading.

-- MDT

Labels: Alfa, corporate espionage, Diligence LLC, IPOC, Kroll