Background Investigation Services

Cendrowski Corporate Advisors and its affiliated companies have served clients for over 35 years. We pride ourselves on the diversity of our services offered to legal counsel, corporations, private equity, government and not-for-profits.

CCA’s investigative services provide organizations with actionable intelligence in order to:

Hire key personnel
Establish vendor relationships
Commit to affiliations and sponsorships that are critical to the business
Make financial commitments to drive commerce
Assess and finalize acquisitions and joint ventures
Assess current key officers, Board members and other professionals.

Our investigation services include comprehensive background investigations, asset searches, physical surveillance, on-the-ground investigation activities, interviews, undercover activities, digital forensics (computer evidence retrieval), and BSA Look Back Reviews as ordered by the FDIC in conjunction with enhanced due diligence investigations. Our team has tremendous experience with foreign operations, and we have direct contacts in many foreign countries.

Our experienced professionals are unparalleled in this service area. Members of our investigative team hold an average of 4 nationally recognized financial and forensic certifications and bring an average of more than 20 years’ investigative experience. They have served as expert witnesses in numerous trials and their analyses have been recognized by judges and juries for their comprehensiveness.

Our network resources span the globe, with investigators located in every state and most every country, and provide specialized scientific knowledge. As with all of our services, our investigative activities are performed with the highest degree of confidentiality.

Our team and our affiliates work with investigators, government agencies, businesses, and legal counsel to provide independent internal investigation services. Our professional investigation expertise includes fraud deterrence and investigation, interview and interrogation, background checks and investigations, surveillance, and investigative due diligence.

CCA utilizes affiliations with CPAmerica (a global association of accounting firms) along with former FBI Special Agents, Private Detectives and other law enforcement officers to assist and supplement our practice around the globe.

Our services have helped organizations uncover multimillion dollar frauds, complicated money-laundering schemes, and revealed otherwise unknown personal information that has changed investment, management, and hiring decisions. We have published our knowledge of fraud in The Handbook of Fraud Deterrence, a textbook distributed by John Wiley & Sons.

We use a phased approach to our investigations in order to deliver the results you need. CCA uses up to fifty sources of intelligence.

Our approach allows us to develop intelligence regarding:

Regulatory issues,
Criminal and civil litigation involvement
Bankruptcies
Verification of education and credentials
Professional licenses
Judgements and liens
Assets
Adverse media
Associated business entities and relationships
International searches and surveillance.

A single piece of intelligence can change the entire course of a background or resultant investigation. The essential component of due diligence may be the last phone call that you didn’t make. CCA’s background investigation services include:

Holistic Investigations—Our detailed investigations can provide information on companies and individuals’ backgrounds, assets, and even reputational backgrounds when necessary.
Information from its original source: Our information is compiled from the point of origination.
Quick turnaround time: In some cases, we are able to provide same-day information to clients.
Experienced interviews: Our interviewing services are performed by investigators who have interviewed thousands of individuals in their career.
Customized reporting: We distribute information to clients in the format of their choice. We prepare formal background investigation reports when requested and distribute information as it becomes available.
Confidentiality — Our services are private and confidential. We have never published a client list in our over 35 years of existence.

We have a longstanding yet independent relationship with several international investigative, cyber security and risk management firms. This allows us to coordinate our actions to achieve engagement efficiencies, while also allowing clients options to manage the aspects of privilege.

Intellectual Property Investigations

Cendrowski Corporate Advisors is affiliated with a leading intellectual property firm that specializes in investigations, anti-counterfeit/gray market enforcement and anonymous acquisitions of IP assets. They serve a range of clients from Fortune 500 corporations to entrepreneurs in numerous industries around the world. Their team is comprised of private investigators, former trademark litigation and prosecution paralegals with years of IP experience. Their current capabilities extend across the globe. All team members have worked at a corporate legal department or on an IP litigation team. By providing a wider array of specialized services generally not offered by typical private investigation firms, their primary focus is to provide investigative services and ancillary support at reasonable rates. Their agents are prepared to go undercover for matters where stealth is vital to the success of the case.

Our investigative services:

Surveillance
Interviews and interrogations
Site visits and physical controls
Financial transaction tracing
Document retrieval
Digital forensics of computers, tablets and other devices

Example Engagement: Stolen Funds

CCA was engaged to assist counsel with an internal investigation involving allegations made by a former employee and former members of the Board of Directors. Issues included SEC violations relative to the development and implementation of an initial coin offering (ICO) pertaining to the company’s move into the crypto currency space, Department of Labor violations relative to the treatment of employees as full time employee versus independent contractors, financial improprieties relative to the CEO utilizing corporate funds for personal reasons, and governance issues relative to the Board of Directors and the company.

CCA interviewed company employees, former employees, board members and investors relative to issues and allegations against the CEO and the company. We assessed the governance process at the company, reviewed documentation relative to financial transactions and prepared a report to set forth findings and best practices.