Exhibit A CFI has assisted in multiple types of Business Cases including:
- Corporate and Industrial Espionage
- Data Misappropriation
- Disgruntled Employee
- eDiscovery - Requester, Respondent, or Neutral Expert
- Employee Theft
- Employment Dispute
- Enforcement of Non-Competition Agreements
- Executive Misconduct
- Financial Fraud and Embezzlement
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
- Government Subpoena Response
- Intellectual Property Theft
- Internal Investigations
- Post-Employment Covenants
- Sexual Harassment Claims
- Spoliation of Evidence
- Theft of Trade Secrets
- Unfair Competition
Actual Case Examples:
We are Certified Fraud Examiners –
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Investigation – The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is a U.S. statute that prohibits firms and individuals from paying bribes to foreign officials to further business interests. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are responsible for enforcing the FCPA. We were retained to conduct an exhaustive investigation involving corporate laptops, desktops, email servers, file servers, and backup tapes at a Defense and Law Enforcement Equipment Manufacturer. The Vice President of International Sales had bribed United Nations (UN) officials to win contracts to provide over $7 million of protective gear. Results of our investigation were provided to the DOJ, the SEC, and multiple foreign Judicial organizations.
Intellectual Property Theft Investigation –
Online Email Investigation –
Cloud Forensics Investigation –
Using USB Devices for Data Theft –
Workplace Harassment Defense Investigation – Employers have a duty to protect their employees from sexual harassment. When sexual harassment does occur, however, the employer can be vulnerable to significant financial liability, or even to criminal charges. The courts allow employers to defend against allegations of sexual harassment. One defense available to defendants in sexual harassment cases is to claim the sexual conduct in question was welcomed by the plaintiff. In one sexual harassment case, the plaintiff’s manager admitted to the conduct in question, but argued that the behavior was consensual. A review of the boss’s text and email messages showed the plaintiff had taken inappropriate (not safe for work) photos of herself using a mirror and sent them to the defendant on multiple occasions. After being presented with this overwhelming electronic evidence, the plaintiff dropped her case.
External Hard Drive Data Theft Investigation – External hard drives are small, portable, and can easily hold a large quantity of data. We had an interesting case where we were able to prove an ex-employee had used an external hard drive to steal the company’s proprietary data, confidential business information, and trade secrets on his last day of employment. The review began with an examination of the company’s computer the ex-employee had used. After finding evidence that the highly proprietary trade secret and confidential information had been copied to the external hard drive, the defendant was ordered to turn over the hard drive, as well as his current computer at his new company for examination. This addition evidence revealed the stolen data had been shared with management at his new employer.
Cell Tower Mapping Forensics –
Wrongful Termination Defense Investigation – Wrongful termination occurs when an employer fires an employee for an illegal reason. Most employees are considered “at-will,” meaning that an employer can terminate the employment at any time and for any reason. There are some grounds on which it is unlawful to fire an employee. Terminating an employee based on a protected factor such as age, race, gender, or disability is strictly prohibited. Wrongful termination cases can have serious consequences for an employer, potentially resulting in financial loss, negative publicity, and lower employee morale. We have assisted many companies in their defense against wrongful termination claims by preserving potential evidence (e.g. computers, cell phones, email, etc.) and guarding against spoliation claims. Additionally, text and email message searches can reveal deficiencies in the terminated employee’s claim.
Trade Secret Computer Forensics Investigation – Trade secrets are a form of intellectual property. According to most states’ laws, a trade secret may consist of any formula, pattern, physical device, idea, process, or compilation of information that provides the owner of the information with a competitive advantage in the marketplace and is treated in a way that can reasonably be expected to prevent the public or competitors from learning about it, absent improper acquisition or theft. In one case, at a software development company, we discovered an ex-employee had gone to work for a competitor and was still in contact with current employees of the company, actively recruiting them to join him. Upon examination of the current employees’ computers, we located communications they thought were secret. These communications detailed not only the recruiting activity, but also gave instructions to misappropriate hundreds of proprietary trade secrets, confidential documents, and passwords to databases and instructions to delete files to avoid detection of their unlawful conduct.
