Asset Searches: Making the Invisible Visible

Who owns what, where. Pickering Sullivan assists client around the globe track assets including offshore accounts through a deep network of local contacts.

have suspicions about a creditor that declared bankruptcy? we can help get fraudulent bankruptcies overturned.

Our client, a financial services firm, was faced with a large loss after one of their customers secured a bankruptcy judgement. Our client was convinced the customer had undisclosed assets.

Pickering Sullivan quickly engaged our network of national and international sources. By cross-checking historical records of financial transactions spanning ten years and by conducting investigative interviews in multiple countries, we were able to uncover evidence that the subject had moved assets off shore and set up a new company operating both inside and outside the US, controlled by family members.

Our client was able to use the findings to overturn the bankruptcy and were able to pursue the subject for a settlement.

For corporations or individuals facing questions about counterparty assets, talk to us about how we can help.

Business Intelligence: Protecting Against the Theft of Trade Secrets

Most competitive threats come from within. Working with Pickering Sullivan to identify, track and report on any suspect individuals within the organization should be standard practice for tech, biotech, blockchain and other IP-dependent companies.

Employees who BRING knowledge about your methods or processes to a new employer may be committing ip fraud. we can protect you.

Pickering Sullivan was engaged by a consumer goods company after they heard that several employees who had left the firm over a multi-month period all seemed to be joining a competitive startup.

Using advanced investigative tools and techniques, we were able to confirm connections between three of the former employees and the startup. The information we uncovered enabled our client to successfully litigate, enforcing their non-compete and preventing the loss of business-critical trade secrets.

Gathering business intelligence on competitors should be standard practice in any high growth industry. Talk to us about the range of intelligence-gathering available for your business.

Corporate Governance: Confirming Claims with Total Discretion

We can help make sure the people responsible for leading your firm are exactly who they say they are.

PERFORMING DEEP BACKGROUND CHECKS ON YOUR SENIOR EXECUTIVES AS A STANDARD PRACTICE IS A PRUDENT AND COST-EFFECTIVE WAY OF AVOIDING POTENTIALLY EMBARRASING AND DAMAGING CONFLICTS DOWN THE ROAD.

Pickering Sullivan routinely works with firms of all sizes to confirm background information on senior executives and board members.

We were engaged by a public tech company after concerns arose that a senior leader and board member may have misrepresented certain details of their educational background. The company had attempted to verify the individual’s education on their own but found that records were not available from the school in question.

As a boutique firm, we’re able to work rapidly and with complete discretion. Through a series of off-the-record discussions with trusted sources and by accessing records not available to the public, we were able to prove beyond a doubt that the individual did not have an MBA as claimed. Our client was able to manage the situation quickly and quietly, avoiding likely public exposure and erosion of shareholder trust.

Having a complete, up to date dossier on each executive leader and board member is a vital part of corporate governance. Talk to us about how we can make this a standard operating procedure for your company.

Pre-Employment Screening: Verify the People you Need to Trust Most

Trust but verify: Pickering Sullivan can make sure the people you hire have the educational and professional background they claim. And can also unearth any other civil or criminal charges you should be aware of.

USING FREE WEBSITES OR APPS TO CHECK A POTENTIAL EMPLOYEE’S BACKGROUND IS A GOOD START. HOWEVER WE CAN UNCOVER THE HIDDEN INFORMATION NOT VISIBLE TO THESE SERVICES, THAT THE INDIVIDUAL DIDN’T WANT YOU TO FIND.

Our client had used an online background check service to verify a new senior hire. Although the service didn’t turn up any red flags, our client decided to have Pickering Sullivan double check.

It’s a good thing they did.

Using a combination of professional databases, field-based record checks, and the resourcefulness to cut through bureaucratic red tape, we found the individual had attended a university but failed to graduate as he claimed on his CV. Further, we uncovered a bankruptcy, charges of assault and battery and numerous liens and judgements—none of which were revealed by the online background check service.

With the proliferation of sites such as Reputation Defender and other similar services, individuals are now able to conceal damaging evidence of prior wrongdoing from standard background check services or internet search engines.

A licensed professional investigator like Pickering Sullivan has enhanced legal access to privileged data, plus the experience and knowledge to work around cloaking services. We offer different levels of cost-effective pre-employment screening depending on the level of responsibility and whether an employee will be handling sensitive information and money. Talk to us today about any upcoming key hires.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Insights to Confirm Your Purchase Decision

A small investment in deep due diligence from a professional PI firm like Pickering Sullivan can save losses, headache and embarrassment from later discovery of personal or professional issues with key individuals acquired through mergers or acquisitions.

considering a merger or acquisition? find out what the target company and its officers aren’t telling you. a single piece of non-disclosed information could make the difference between a deal succeeding or failing.

One of our technology clients entered a non-binding LOI to purchase a startup. They engaged Pickering Sullivan to learn more about the backgrounds of the four founders as part of their standard due diligence process.

In addition to standard education, employment and criminal background searches, we also conducted patent application searches on all four, given the highly technical nature of the industry.

We discovered that one of the founders had recently applied for a trademark on IP that appeared very similar to IP developed by the company being acquired. In addition, the individual had incorporated a new company under a family member’s name that appeared to be competitive to company he was selling. None of this had been disclosed by the founders to the acquirer.

As a result, our client withdrew their bid, potentially saving millions in lawsuits and a failed acquisition.

Non-disclosed information is one of the most frequently cited reasons for why deals fail. Talk to us about how we can protect your company as a routine part of M&A procedure.

Adoption Reunion: Our Know-How, Resourcefulness and Network Made the Difference

Each year, thousands of people adopted through “closed” adoptions seek answers as to whom their biological parents are. A professional PI like Pickering Sullivan has the resources to find out.

ancestry.com and other online services are a great start. however we can help find birth parents even when these services fail.

Pickering Sullivan was engaged by an individual seeking his birth family. He had tried online services with no results. His had been a “closed” adoption from the 1960s. This meant hospital and adoption agency records were sealed, unavailable even to the adopted child later in life.

The only thing the individual knew about his birth family was that his birth mother was an employee at what he believed was his birth father’s family business—an industrial plant in the Midwest. Unfortunately, the business had been closed for many years and the owner of the business was now deceased.

Working with public records and our proprietary network of genealogy researchers, law enforcement and healthcare sources within the target community, we were able to collect and carefully analyze historical documents that led to a series of successful records requests from public agencies. This in turn led to a series of interviews with former employees who had worked at the business in the 1960s, which confirmed the names of both his birth mother and birth father.

Our research led us to learn that the birth mother and birth father were deceased. However, we were able to find the nephew of the subject’s birth father. This enabled our client to reach out and meet his birth mother’s family, who had no idea that she gave birth to a child—and have since welcomed our client warmly into the family.

If you’re an adoptee who has wondered about or searched for your birth family, talk to us about how we can help reunite you.