Corporate Investigations

DeFacto International is an acknowledged market leader in the field of corporate investigations. Our investigative services in this regard include, but are not limited to:

Due Diligence
In-depth investigations conducted in regard to any merger or acquisition during which the bona fides of the subject company’s directors require to be researched in scrupulous detail. Similar to in-depth vetting and screening enquiries but with greater emphasis on the professional reputation and, perhaps, the reputational and fiscal indices.

Litigation Support
DeFacto works in conjunction with our client’s legal team, building a profile of the target individual(s) or corporation, anywhere in the world. Whatever the background to the litigation, debt, divorce settlement, counterfeit goods, copyright infringement/intellectual property, libel or criminal defence, we are able to bring a formidable weight of experience and resourcefulness to bear on our clients’ behalf.

Fraud and White Collar crime investigations
We work proactively with clients to investigate white collar crime of all kinds. Very often clients will gain little satisfaction from the police in respect of this type of crime, for a variety of reasons, not least police overstretch. Fraudsters know this.
As a preventative exercise , we were tasked to create a comprehensive anti-fraud and corruption ”blueprint", originally for a blue-chip corporation. This can be readily adapted and applied to many organisations. As most of our work is already done, implementation can be at a relatively low cost. This is a most useful and value for money exercise.

Asset Tracking (onshore and offshore)
This is a core activity at DeFacto. Over the years we have been able to develop strong working relations in many jurisdictions in the field of asset searching. A devious business partner or spouse, for example, will often endeavour to illicitly secrete assets away from the eyes of our client, the tax authorities, creditors and others. We are very adept at locating and profiling the hidden “matrix” in all its forms.

Business Intelligence Gathering – UK and overseas
A key service which can support other activities and services – trace a missing witness or beneficiary, determine where an individual is travelling to in advance, who paid the hotel bill, where does the subject work, who owns the vehicle etc. There are countless applications for this kind of enquiry. Many other investigations can stand or fall on the reliability of what is supplied here. This service is often liable to conserve client resources, because, for example, if you know in advance where the subject is going to be, there is no need to deploy an expensive surveillance team to follow him.

Competitor Profiling
There are many reasons why our client may be interested in learning about their main competitors. If there is litigation against them, it may be important to know how solvent they are; can they meet the legal costs or a judgement in your favour if they lose? They may be attempting to headhunt a key member of your business; you may need to know how to undercut their prices; perhaps you may be testing the market in the industry before commencing your own business. The application within the sphere of competitor profiling is fairly limitless.