Corporate Intelligence

 

With business expansion, development and sustainability, Corporate Intelligence (CI) provides a covering to business development, market research and strategic planning.  Our associates prepare premier intelligence products which are based on information obtained through our extensive network of both open and private sources and databases.  The information is analysed, interpreted for key facts and packaged for presentation.  The corporate intelligence product may include facts about individuals, companies, countries, industry sectors and market fronts.  Without corporate intelligence the result may be:

 

· Loss of market share

· Civil or even criminal litigation

· Business losses

· Negative publicity

· Loss of reputation

· Competitor growth

· Fraud and other white collar crime

· Terrorism and organised crime

· Industrial espionage

 

Therefore, typical questions that lead to corporate intelligence programmes being launched can include:

 

· Who are the key individuals in a joint venture company who we are about to embark on a business relationship?

· Political stability and crime levels of a country that is worth considering for a new market?

· Are there foreign based companies who are going to threaten our business?

· Does a company possess the infrastructure and management knowledge to provide sustainability for distribution of our product?

· What is our competitor’s strategy intention?

· Do we know everything about a potential candidate for a senior executive position?

· What government support or legal structure is there to protect our interests in a new country to expand our product into?

· Will our staff be safe in a new area of operation?

 

It could be said that all business opportunities create operational risks which once assessed will present a status on strengths and weaknesses including averting criminal activity with timely and accurate corporate intelligence of which we offer the following products:

 

· Due diligence investigations of companies to ensure that all disclosures are accurate and factual

· Pre-employment screening

· Executive employment assessments

· Profile assessments

· Supplier integrity assessments

· Lifestyle assessments

· Surveillance of activities

 

Our corporate intelligence operations are conducted within the parameters of a strict code of conduct while not intruding on privacy or infringing confidentiality.

 

Forensic Intelligence

 

Forensic intelligence differs considerably from corporate intelligence in that, anything relating to the term forensic is associated to an intended litigation process albeit civil or criminal.  For the purpose of clarity, forensic disciplines require the comparison of evidence or observations against standards or objects that would be considered as the norm to provide support to the evidence or observations for presentation in court.  Unsurprisingly forensic intelligence takes its roots from law enforcement agencies and provides forensic data and information sets for matching opportunities. Ribaux et al., describe forensic intelligence as; the accurate, timely and useful product of logically processing (analysis of) forensic case data (information) for investigation and/or intelligence purposes”.(1)

 

The linking of forensic work (in its various forms) directly to the crime incident, rather than summary data to support investigation and broader intelligence programmes.

 

An example, in a fraud and corruption investigation, we found that employees of our client conspired in a purchasing scam with external persons.  Investigators commenced their investigation based on a set of documents that had been discovered and suspected to be fraudulent which were provided to our intelligence analysts who firstly sort to find the electronic origins on the client’s server.  The documents had been deleted but they had been e-mailed to other suspects and left a trail which once traced and compared to the paper documents proved a match.  This also provided what is commonly known as a link analysis which further supported the notion of a criminal association.

 

Our forensic intelligence services have been utilised in proving:

 

· Business and product sabotage

· Internet and e-mail fraud

· Tracing of counterfeit products

· Poisoning incidents

· Fraud and corruption cases

· Criminal activity by competitors

· Import fraud

· Product theft and illegal distribution

· Syndicated and organised crime

· Identity theft scams

 

While forensic intelligence has been utilised with high effect in complex matters, it is nonetheless a powerful tool in less intricate incidents to expedite the conclusion of an investigation and bring the guilty parties to book.

 

 

1 Ribaux O, Simon W, Pierre M, 2004, The Contribution of forensic science to crime analysis and investigation: Forensic Intelligence, Elsevier, Ireland

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Excellence ♦ Integrity

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Corporate

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Forensic Intelligence