| Message From The President
Ed Cotilla - President
Ethos Risk Services
Greetings,
It's been very productive and oftentimes hectic here at Ethos since our last newsletter. It's been a good stress though, not a bad stress. Due to our continued growth, we moved our corporate headquarters in March to a much larger office space located in downtown Saint Petersburg, Florida. It's quite a jump from our first office 5 years ago, which was about the size of a walk-in closet. Three office moves later and we finally have found our permanent home. Our new digs provide ample room for future growth and have all of the latest technology and security features that benefit our clients.
Also, a few months ago we formed a new division in our organization that we refer to as Data Support Services (or DSS since we love acronyms so much around here). We hired a proven industry professional, Brian DeAntonio, to oversee this emerging division in our company. We believe that we employ the most talented team of in-house background and due diligence investigators in the industry. Our DSS department handles all of our background checks, due diligence investigations, locate investigations, hospital/pharmacy canvasses, and internet mining investigations.
Speaking of internet mining or social media investigations, our results from these investigations have been nothing short of remarkable. I don't mean to toot our own horn here, but I have been amazed at the information that our team has developed from these internet mining investigations, and maybe even more shocked about the type of information and photos that people post on the internet. A word of caution: Be careful. Once something us out there in cyberspace it usually is there forever.
Just in the last week through internet mining investigations, we have found a claimant running in track meets, another playing in a pool tournament, an allegedly injured police officer out dancing and partying at bars, and a blog by a claimant bragging about how she is ripping off the worker's compensation system. Each of these cases had incriminating photos posted by the claimant's on their social media sites. My favorite is a tie between the police officer dancing the "Dougie", and the claimant cruising through the finish line of a track meet with her hair flowing in the breeze and holding up her index finger proclaiming she was #1. Number one indeed on the busted list!
I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that on June 01, 2011, Ethos Risk Services celebrated our 5 year anniversary. I can't express how proud I am of our entire team who has worked so tirelessly over the years to reach this milestone. This industry is ultra-competitive and oftentimes cut throat and we are all proud of this achievement and in knowing that we come this far by doing things the right way, with integrity and a true passion for our profession.
Of course, none of this would be even remotely possible if not for you, our loyal clients, who have blessed us with your trust and loyalty to handle your important investigative needs. Here at Ethos, we all take our jobs very seriously and fully understand how important the investigative process is for all of our clients. I can assure you that we are in this for the long haul and our commitment to excellence and drive to provide our clients with the best results and service in the industry will never waver. So again, I thank all of you that have utilized our services and look forward to our continued business relationship as we partner together to continue to combat fraud. I also encourage anyone reading this that has not tried Ethos to give us an opportunity to show you what we are all about. I am confident that you'll be glad you did.
That's all for now. I wish everyone a very happy and safe summer.
Best Regards,
Ed Cotilla
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Best Catch! 
Faithful readers of The Examiner know what we like to sing the praises of our investigators whenever we get the chance. Our team works very hard to achieve the very best possible results for our clients. Since our last newsletter, we have seen some pretty impressive work from the field and also some outstanding in-house work. The Best Catch award for this edition of The Examiner was earned through a combination of internet mining efforts and well-executed field work.
Ethos received an assignment from a long-time client who wanted three days of surveillance performed to document the activities of a claimant with a reported lower back injury. The client also requested a pre-surveillance internet mining investigation. Our Data Support Services team performed a deep internet search using top search engines, meta-search engines, social media sites, business media sites, sports enthusiast sites, local specialized sites, and searches of the deep or "invisible web". Among other useful information, our searches revealed that the claimant was possibly frequenting a local gym. Discreet inquiries with the gym confirmed that the claimant was in fact a member.
The file was then scheduled for surveillance. On the first and second days of the investigation, the claimant was moderately active and was observed running a few light errands. However, the third day of surveillance proved to be very beneficial for our client.
The claimant once again ran some errands but capped off the day with a stop at the gym. The investigator obtained a day pass and entered the gym equipped with a covert camera. Over the course of approximately 90 minutes, video was obtained of the claimant engaging in a rigorous workout that included running on a treadmill, lifting weights and performing numerous abdominal crunches without any physical restriction. At one point, the claimant was even observed throwing a heavy medicine ball back and forth with his workout partner. All in all, an impressive display from someone whose back injury was supposedly so severe that he was unable to work even light duty.
We fully expect that our internet mining investigations will set the stage for many more successful surveillance investigations in the future. Way to go, Team Ethos! |
State of the Industry - Workers Compensation
Andrew Gregory, Director of Sales and Business Development
Recently, I attended the NCCI (National Council on Compensation Insurance) annual issues symposium. For those of you who do not know, this is an event that analyzes industry trends, prepares workers compensation insurance rate recommendations, determines the cost of proposed legislation, and provides a variety of services and tools to maintain a healthy workers compensation system.
At the event, the industry was described as "deteriorating". The industry is hitting some fairly stiff business concerns which affect the bottom line of each organization writing workers compensation business. NCCI reported that industry costs are up by 5% from a year ago and the frequency of lost time claims has increased by 9%. The recession is easing (but not in manufacturing and construction industries), workers compensation carriers are operating at losses (!) and private carriers are at a 10 billion dollar reserve deficiency. All of this essentially means that every single reserve dollar is precious.
In the investigative/intelligence gathering world, it's critical to find the "right" partner that understands your big picture and makes recommendations based on results, not revenue. For example, Ethos has saved our clients a great deal of money by utilizing services such as internet mining to create proactive plans prior to executing field based research or surveillance. This approach often means recommending to our clients less expensive solutions that better their needs. Although such an approach is counter-intuitive to many in the business world, we are in this for the long haul and developing customer goodwill and trust is the key ingredient to our long-term goals.
The bottom line is that moving forward, success in our industry will be achieved by doing more with less and getting better results.
2011-2012 are going to be years of change. Technology, processes, intelligence and workflow will all be elements in leading your organization to new heights in setting the next generation of standards. Think creatively, challenge the status quo and create new lasting partnerships with those that can help you ride the wave of change for the next 15 years. In this "deteriorating" marketplace, you must surround yourself with passionate partners that perform. |
The Ethos 8:
Q & A With Brian DeAntonio, Director of Data Support Services
 In each edition of The Examiner, we like to feature one of our Ethos team members in a Q &A session we call The Ethos Eight. Our attention this time around is focused on Brian DeAntonio, Director of our newly formed Data Support Services division.
Ethos Risk Services: Where did you grow up?
Brian DeAntonio: I grew up all over, my Dad was in the Navy so I have lived in Mass, CA, FL, NJ but most of my childhood was spent in Massachusetts.
ERS: Now that we know where you're from, we probably can figure out how you're going to answer this next question, but we'll ask anyway. What are your favorite sports teams?
BD: If you grow up in Massachusetts, it's illegal to root for any other professional team than the Red Sox, Celts, Bruins and the Patriots! I love them all passionately.
ERS: What's your favorite childhood memory?
BD: Meeting Hall of Famer Jim Rice at the Tufts College baseball camp in Medford, MA
ERS: How did you get into the investigative/risk mitigation industry?
BD: By accident! Without my knowledge, my wife answered an ad for a private investigator and didn't tell me. Well, the owner of the company called me and offered me a job over the phone. We were both pleasantly surprised!
ERS: What is your most memorable moment professionally?
BD: I was working a case in Springfield, MA as a field agent. No one could find this claimant at all. He was supposed to be paraplegic, but when I found him he was golfing, waterskiing, dancing, and sculling on the Conn River. I almost ran out of tape!
ERS: You have had the opportunity to work for some different investigative firms in your career. How is Ethos different than the others?
BD: Ethos is like a breath of fresh air. The owners and employees are all very knowledgeable in the industry and work tirelessly for our clients, which is the way it's supposed to be.
ERS: If you had to choose another line of work besides this, what would you do?
BD: I wouldn't want to do anything else, but if I had to I would have extended my football career to a 10-15 year career in the NFL.
ERS: If you could choose a superpower, what would it be and why?
BD: Without question, mindreading. I would love to know what my claimants are thinking every minute of the day. |
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