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Investigations
When something has already gone wrong
Not every problem can be screened out in advance. An allegation surfaces, an audit raises a question, a whistleblower comes forward or a relationship that once looked sound begins to show signs of strain. At this point the issue is no longer whether to proceed but instead is about establishing what has actually happened, who was involved, and what should be done about it.
This is where our investigations work differs from integrity due diligence or enhanced due diligence. Due diligence is forward-looking: it screens a partner or target before you commit. An investigation is, by contrast, usually reactive. It is a disciplined, after-the-fact effort to reconstruct what has actually happened.
What do we investigate?
Each investigation is scoped around the specific concern that prompted it. Our work in this area commonly includes:
- internal investigations into suspected misconduct by employees, directors or management
- conflicts of interest, where an insider may have an undisclosed connection to a supplier, customer, counterparty or competitor
- fraud, kickbacks, bid-rigging and procurement irregularities
- asset misappropriation and the question of where value has gone
- responses to whistleblower allegations, internal audit findings or regulatory enquiries
- post-transaction problems, where issues emerge only after a deal has closed
In each case the underlying task is the same: to move from suspicion to a clear, evidence-based picture of what occurred.
Conflicts of interest and hidden connections
Conflicts of interest are among the hardest issues to detect precisely because the people involved have every incentive to keep them concealed. An employee may steer contracts towards a company in which they, a relative or an associate hold an undisclosed stake; a counterparty may sit behind a chain of holding entities designed to obscure who ultimately benefits.
Establishing these links is a core strength of ours. By working across corporate registries, directorship records, litigation filings and beneficial-ownership data in multiple jurisdictions (and in local languages) we can trace the connections that a single-jurisdiction or English-only search would miss. Where the relevant public datasets are difficult to interrogate, our proprietary database services can make otherwise hard-to-search records reverse-searchable, allowing us to start from a name and work outwards to the entities and relationships attached to it.
How do we approach an investigation?
Two principles run through the work. The first is the use of primary and local-language sources: working in the local language rather than relying on translated material gives us a richer and more accurate picture of any subject or transaction. The second is discretion. Investigations of this kind are often sensitive, and we conduct them confidentially, mindful that findings may ultimately need to support disciplinary action, litigation or a regulatory response.
In practice an investigation will typically involve verifying the registration and ownership details of the entities in question; searching media archives, open sources and third-party databases; reviewing litigation records and court filings across the relevant jurisdictions; checking sanctions lists and watchlists; and mapping the ownership and relationship structures that connect the parties.
Often our research also involves mapping of relationships through use of social media platforms.
We work alongside your in-house team, legal counsel and, where appropriate, forensic accountants - complementing their work with the intelligence and cross-border research that establishes the wider picture.
Why it matters
The findings of an investigation rarely stay internal for long. They may inform a decision to dismiss an employee, recover misappropriated assets, pursue or defend litigation, or respond to a regulator. For businesses exposed to the US or the UK, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the UK Bribery Act raise the stakes further, since regulators have shown themselves willing to pursue companies over conduct that a timely investigation might have uncovered and addressed. Getting the facts right, and getting them early, protects both the outcome and the organisation.
Why Maddocks Insight?
Founded in 2011, Maddocks Insight is a boutique corporate intelligence consultancy, which means we can respond quickly and discreetly to a sensitive matter rather than forcing it into a standard template. Our multilingual team combines deep language skills with international affairs expertise, allowing us to investigate across most of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, South and North America, and China. Our clients include Big Four accountancy firms, international law firms and specialist risk consultancies - many of whom we support on a confidential, subcontracted basis.
Please contact us today to discuss a matter in confidence.
