Lying, cheating, and stealing is unacceptable! How will you protect your company?
When Client Interests Have Been Damaged by Malfeasance
If your firm has been the victim of intentional employee, officer, or director misconduct, you can sue for money damages. You may also choose to bring a complaint to law enforcement.
“Chuck’s membership on our team has been invaluable each time he has joined with us. He brings a wealth of white collar crime experience to the table along with access to top tier forensic and investigative resources that work with him comfortably. He obviously enjoys the respect of federal prosecutors and law enforcement. Moreover, he brings a credible and highly ethical presence to our representation of victim companies and business people.”
– SPP, Jr., Esq.,
30-year civil litigation attorney
Atlanta, Georgia
Among immediate considerations ought to be the recognition that state and federal law enforcement agencies will independently decide if the case is worth investigating. If they choose to investigate, any evidence they gather will be confidential to them, whether or not brought before a grand jury, and their evidence will become inaccessible to your civil lawyer. Once the government begins its investigation, initiating or continuing an investigation by the company can interfere or be misinterpreted as obstructive, which can make it difficult to bring or maintain a parallel civil case for financial recovery. Then, in the end, law enforcement may decide not to investigate at all.
I help businesses independently investigate and appropriately gather evidence of internal wrongdoing, so that they can maximize their goals of quick, accurate assessments, issue resolution, and privacy, and then coordination with their other business goals.
I can put together an effective forensic team to conduct an internal investigation that yields evidence admissible under federal evidentiary standards while allowing your business to use the information that has been collected. By virtue of my background as a retired FBI agent and legal advisor, and through membership in the Society of Former Agents and other networks, I have access to some of the best investigative resources in the country. I have also developed strategic liaisons with other experienced attorneys and larger law firms willing and able to take on the most complex litigation cases.
I work with business owners, executives and professionals, and their counsel who have been victimized by:
- Director, officer, or employee misconduct
- Partnership and close corporation shareholder disputes
- Embezzlement and theft
- Breaches of fiduciary duty
- Contractor or vendor fraud
- Misuse or misappropriation of proprietary information, and other business torts
Does your business involve federal funding?
Businesses and non-federal government agencies that receive or depend on federal contracts, grants, loans, or other federal funding have regulatory and statutory “strings attached” to the money they receive. Whether it is Medicare/Medicaid, military, Homeland Security (fire / police / first-responder matters), education, research, training, transportation, or any other program area involving partial or complete federal funding, the processes require complete administrative compliance with applicable statutes, rules, and regulations.
Ensuring the security and integrity of our federal programs is a government priority.
Have you become aware that false claims or certifications have been made to the government, either intentionally or unintentionally, by employees of your company?
Are you concerned that your business is at risk because of errors or improper filings? Have you uncovered serious or systemic noncompliance and are not sure if it was caused by inadvertent error or intentional manipulation and fraud? Have you received an allegation that there is fraud taking place within your business that could be the subject of a whistleblower case or federal investigation?
If your organization has contracts with the federal government, your company may be liable for false claims you, your subordinates, or your agents make—whether that falsehood is intentional or not. If you discover false claims, there are certain obligations to correct the record and return any improperly received funds or overpayments…your business may also need to report the problem to law enforcement.
In order to analyze the best options to consider, business owners, officers and directors, and their lawyers, need to know their company’s exposure before acting. They need to know what happened, how it happened, and who was responsible.
I work with business owners who want to investigate possible fraud within their companies so that they can pin down the facts and fashion the best response to deal honestly with the government.
