Where’s the money?
“Follow the money.” Quoting Deep Throat in All the President’s Men, investigative journalist, Bob Woodward, struck a chord that resonates still today with litigators and business people everywhere. Finding out where’s the money or “who has how much of what” is critical to equitable settlements. Back in the 1970’s — when the Watergate scandal ran amok — attorneys, investigators, and forensic accountants had considerable leeway to ferret out hidden cash flows and surreptitious accounts.
Unearthing critical data is no longer that easy. For example, one old-school investigative technique, called “pretexting,” involved the contrived “spoofing” of banking officials to obtain accurate financial records. Today, such practices are illegal.
The Financial Modernization Act of 1999, also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act or GLB Act, spells out various provisions to safeguard the privacy of personal information held by a variety of traditional and non-traditional financial institutions. Banks, securities firms, insurance companies, lending, brokering or consumer loan services, tax preparers, financial advisers, credit counselors, real estate and debt collection service providers, are all restricted from divulging private information. Those who seek such information — even for righteous purposes — are legally restricted in the discovery of pertinent facts.
In addition to procedural restrictions, the very nature of searching for data has changed. What used to require an exhaustive search through file folders, bank statements, ledgers, archives, file cabinets, and memos, now requires sophisticated comprehension of database wizardry, email retrieval, and Internet research.
In compliance with the pretexting provisions of the GLB Act, Complete Legal Investigations, Inc. has developed various legal means of revealing camouflaged information.
In addition, the proprietary techniques developed by Complete Legal enable our investigators to locate hard-to-find witnesses, process large volumes of data, and discover the facts. Our people take the time to understand disputed issues. We sort through all the stories, discern the truth, and empower our clients with the data they need to win the case.
Serving attorney-clients and businesses as adjunct staff, Complete Legal creates an effective team environment, involving our clients in the discovery process, closely monitoring the overall work product for cost effectiveness, and expediently communicating critical information essential to producing the best possible result.
Our clients have access to our staff on a daily basis by phone and e-mail. We enjoy and encourage the exchange of ideas and information as we talk to witnesses and develop leads, day-by-day.
Complete Legal Investigations, Inc. is not your daddy’s “private eye” detective agency.
The preeminent investigative and litigation support we provide to attorneys and businesses is highly specialized, performed by a team of dedicated professionals, each proficient in his or her own unique field.
Our staff of seven is bilingual, and is comprised of former state and federal investigators, Certified Legal Investigators (CLI®), Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE®), and a Certified and Florida Registered Paralegal (CP®), with a combined total of more than 80 years of experience in the legal system. Our goal is the elimination of any uncertainty which could hamper litigation or a business investigation. Call us. We will help you find the money. ~~~