When it comes to owning or running a business, the most undeniable truth is that with business there is risk. As a successful CEO or business owner, it is your responsibility to mitigate potential risk, by performing due diligence. So what is due diligence, and when do you need it?

Due diligence is the investigation of a business or person prior to signing a contract, hiring new employees, entering into a partnership, bringing on a new investor, or otherwise proceeding in business; while it can be a legal obligation, the term is more commonly applied to voluntary investigations. Conducting due diligence before any merger, acquisition, new hire, or investment deal is not only smart, it's critical to the success of your business.

A prominent local law firm, with an out-of-town client considering investing in an out-of-state business, hired Arkansas Investigations to quell concerns they had regarding the validity of the business venture their client was considering, specifically, the sources of the capital contributions made by other principals. The objective, was to perform a due diligence investigation to determine how much money the other principals had access to, and verify their business credentials. Unable to locate substantial funds in the United States, Arkansas Investigations reached out to their international resources and were able to verify that... Read More

 

Workplace fraud can happen in any business and with devastating consequences. In the Report to the Nations by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the median loss caused by frauds in 2014 was $145,000-22% of the cases involved suffered a loss of $1 million or more.

To the smallest organization, this significant of a loss could be paralyzing to the business. Specific fraud risks faced by small business differ from those faced by larger organizations, with certain types of fraud being much more prominent. Small organizations suffer disproportionately large losses due to occupational fraud. That is, fraud committed by an employee's deliberate misuse or abuse of his position for monetary gain.

One of Arkansas Investigation's client received information about a prospective fraud at their workplace. We covertly met with the informant a minimum of eight times in various locations over a period of several weeks-each time receiving more and more details of the fraud and what he/she could testify to. Obtaining over...Read more