Investigated $30-million wire fraud for financial services company

Investigated $30-million wire fraud for financial services company

The client was a publicly traded insurance and financial services company that was the victim of a $30-million wire fraud during a complex commercial real estate transaction involving multiple parties and advisors. We were engaged directly by the company and the General Counsel to conduct a thorough investigation to comprehensively document and timeline all activities and the workings of the fraud, evaluate the possibility of insider collusion or external network breach, and perform a review of relevant controls, policies, and procedures.

The work included the following: gathering and analyzing documents related to the deal at issue; gathering and analyzing a significant volume of emails, chats, and other internal client records (hosted in an electronic platform for review); interviewing employees involved with the transaction or the events leading up to it; timelining the lead up and closing of the transaction; drafting interim and comprehensive reports; and consulting with the client’s chief information security officer to understand and evaluate network security features, tools, methodologies, and post-incident response (to opine on the likelihood or evidence of external breach). We were able to equip the General Counsel to advise multiple constituencies including the CEO, board, audit committee, and external auditor.

Note: This work was performed prior to joining Stout.