Issue: Interdiligence was approached by the Client to do a basic evaluation of several of its franchise locations. What began as a routine check developed into a deep investigation into conflict of interest, fraud, and breach of contract. Throughout the project, Interdiligence provided on the ground investigations, deep research through our analytical department, and 24/7 availability of the operations director and the project manager.
Process: The Client provided Interdiligence with the locations of the franchise stores that were to be evaluated. The operational team went into action and did observations, documentation, and reported back on each of the stores. Meanwhile the analytical team did investigative research into each of the locations and documented known and unknown associates, biographies, and social media activity of all of the franchise managers/owners. Through a combination of open and human source data clear connections between the franchise managers and a third party (The Subjects) were discovered, they were documented and highlighted in the initial report to the Client.
Upon reviewing the initial report the Client enlisted Interdiligence to explore the relationship between the Subjects. The Interdiligence operational team enhanced its surveillance, approached several sources, and uncovered illicit behavior. The analytical team did a deep dive into the Subjects and developed timelines, graphs, and detailed relational charts that confirmed and elaborated on the initial findings. The Client was kept in the loop through weekly meetings and regular reports.
Findings/Solutions: With the data collected through our investigation the Client was able to;
- Identify exposure points and vulnerabilities;
- End service contracts with some of its business partners;
- Initiate legal actions to obtain lost merchandise and funding;
- Terminate all illegal purchase agreements with competitors;
- Avoid negative publicity and involvement with possible criminal activity;
- Streamline operational checks at all franchise locations;
- Improve relationships with merchandise suppliers;
- Improve profits;
- Terminate all conflicts of interest;
- Hold necessary individuals responsible for illicit activity;
- Canceled all third party involvement in / with the franchise locations.