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Financial Investigators: Don’t Forget About Emotion

In a financial investigation it’s easy to get buried under all the words and numbers and to forget about emotions – those of your client, the person you’re investigating, and your own. It’s understandable but something to guard against. Theballetspot.com If…
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Against Undue Credentialism

Is it in poor taste to argue against leaning too hard on credentials when you post something on LinkedIn, a platform where people showcase their credentials for all to see? I don’t think so. If you want a lawyer who will do a good job…
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The Advantage of Small Talk in Big Cases

Listen to me explain why putting people at ease is the best way to elicit information from them. I don't have a badge or a subpoena, so the key is to be nice to them and be interested in what they do, think, and feel. Get the podcast chat on…
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Good Due Diligence: Buy Back Your Future Mistake for 0.28 Percent

You want to invest $3 million into a real estate project. Time is tight because it’s closing in 12 days. The developer (51 years old) seems to have a decent track record and takes credit for billions of dollars of projects, but this project…
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Keith Hernandez on Hitting and Why Investigators Should Take Note

When not at work, I like to do many things, and one of my favorites is to watch New York Mets baseball. Since moving to New York I’ve grown to love the team and I make common cause with the many Mets fans I run into (even in my Bronx neighborhood…
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Beware of Optical Illusions in an Investigation

Many of us love optical illusions. It’s a safe thrill to know we’re being tricked, and yet are still unable to tell our brains to “get real” and stop the illusion. When you’re doing an investigation, the same kind of thing can take…
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Five Questions to Ask an Investigator Before Hiring

Where do you start in deciding which investigator to hire for a sensitive job? It should be a business of trust, just as it is when choosing someone to come up with an estate plan, to sue a former business partner, or to handle a complex…
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The Yale Med School Fraud: Where Were the Auditors?

Specializing in financial investigations as we do, I am always fascinated when new financial frauds come to light, and I always want to know how the person got caught. In the case of the recent Yale School of Medicine fraud in which an administrator…
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Why Does My Investigation Cost $2,400? A Breakdown of a Typical Bill

After years in business, one of my biggest marketing challenges is still explaining to potential clients why an investigator can’t just use a few mysterious databases and “deep Googling,” as one hopeful person described it, and produce…
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The Ethics of Handling Stolen Data from the Dark Web

We were asked recently about the ethics and legality of Dark Web searches, increasingly part of many investigations. I realized we had never posted on this issue and it’s about time. Since a lot of what we use from the Dark Web is stolen…