INVESTIGATIVE INTELLIGENCE

Industry News From the Week

Christian Focacci — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:02:18 +0000

U.S. Revises Guidelines on White Collar Crime

“NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department announced new guidelines on Thursday for investigating corporate crime cases, following criticism that prosecutors have gone too far in pressing companies to cooperate with criminal probes and restricted individual defendants’ rights.”

See full story here

Bank of China Denies Supporting Terrorists

“Bank of China (BOC), China’s third-largest commercial lender by assets, has denied accusations that it transferred money to terrorist groups, and has said it will defend itself against a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.”

See full story here

The World’s Most Wanted White-Collar Fugitives

“These individuals show high intelligence and tend to put together very complex schemes,” says Sharon Ormsby, the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ financial crimes section chief. “They understand international markets–some have multiple passports–and are familiar with the laws.”

See full story here

Ex-MJIB Chief Indicted

“TAIPEI, Taiwan — Prosecutors indicted Yeh Sheng-mao, the former chief of the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau (MJIB) for withholding information about former President Chen Shui-bian’s possible involvement in money laundering, and sought a jail term of two years and six months.”

See full story here

Taiwanese Ex-Prestident Accused of Money Laundering

Christian Focacci — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:04:53 +0000

“Prosecutors on Monday listed Taiwan’s former President Chen Shui-bian, his wife, son and daughter-in-law as suspects in a widening money laundering probe that has dealt a major blow to the island’s main opposition party.”

See full story here

Intellectual Property

Christian Focacci — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:09:47 +0000

“Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.”

-World Intellectual Property Organization

So why would I be interested in identifying intellectual property? Well, mainly because of its value. In many cases, this intangible asset can be worth a great deal more than its “physical” counterpart. It is no mystery why companies take the theft of their intellectual property so seriously. It is also important to identify IP when conducting an asset search. Use the below sites to identify different types of intellectual property.

United States Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Copy Right Office – Copyright search

World Intellectual Property Organization

Free Patents Online

Google Patent Search

E*Trade Settled $1 Million AML Charge With The SEC

Christian Focacci — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:05:02 +0000

“Online brokerage E*Trade has agreed to pay $1 million to settle claims that two of its units failed to comply with US anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.”

According to the SEC, E*Trade failed to establish adequate CIP (Customer Identification Program) requirements, thus violating the rules of the Patriot Act.

See full story here

11 Charged in the Largest Identity Theft Case Ever

Christian Focacci — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:41:32 +0000

“Federal prosecutors charged 11 people yesterday with the theft and sale of more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers from at least nine U.S. retailers in what they said was one of the largest and most complex hacking and identity theft cases ever brought.”

See full story here

Citigroup Faces Fraud Charges

Christian Focacci — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:37:59 +0000

“The attorney general of New York, Andrew M. Cuomo, said on Friday that he would take legal action against Citigroup, which he said misled investors about the dangers of auction-rate securities and destroyed evidence that his office had requested as part of its investigation into the company’s sales practices.”

This comes a week after Cuomo brought a multi-billion dollar civil lawsuit against the Swiss bank UBS for its role in selling auction-rate securities to investors during and inopportune time in the market.

See full story here

Reverse Phone Look-up’s and White Pages

Christian Focacci — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:12:29 +0000

There are probably hundreds of these services on the Internet. These are some of the best free ones that I’ve found.

Whitepages.com - This is by far my favorite free website for reverse phone searches. It has good coverage and provides full names in results. In some cases, it also provides a work number and company name for the individual you are searching for. (Whitepages.com also owns 411.com, a very good website in its own right)

AnyWho.com - This is AT&T’s online directory. Full first names are generally not provided in results, only the first name’s initial.

Yahoo! People Search - Yahoo! service that lets you search for phone numbers, addresses, or e-mail addresses.

Phone Validator - This site won’t tell you who a number is registered to, but it will tell you if a number is from a cell phone or landline and gives date and location issued.

Zaba Search - This is an excellent site if you already have the person’s name and are looking for their phone number or address.

Tip: If the number you are searching for is not available in any of these databases, try searching the number through Google or another search engine. The person may have their number posted on a website or message board. Try searching the number with and without the dashes.

Also, feel free to check out The Complete Guide to Tracing Phone Numbers from Home, a very informative write-up from Detectiveforums.com.

Merrill Lynch Charged with Investor Fraud

Christian Focacci — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:41:17 +0000

“Massachusetts regulators yesterday charged Merrill Lynch & Co. with fraud and unethical conduct in the sales of auction-rate securities, alleging that the Wall Street firm pressured research analysts to publish misleading reports on the investments and failed to warn customers about the risks in the market.”

See full story here

Non-Profit Organizations

Christian Focacci — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:34:06 +0000

Uses these websites to find information on non-profit organizations:

GuideStar (You must register to see reports. Registration is free.)

Foundations Center

Better Business Bureau - Charity Search

FBI Reports: Internet Crime is on the Rise

Christian Focacci — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:36:58 +0000

A 2007 Internet Crime study by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center shows that reported losses from Internet fraud is $40 million higher than it was in 2006.

See full story here

The full 2007 report can be found here