Asset Searches
Kroll’s investigators and forensic accountants follow complex financial trails to hidden assets and, once found, evaluate indicia of alter ego.
What We Do
When assets have been misappropriated — whether by corporations with intricate structures and businesses, corrupt government officials or individuals attempting to escape legal restitution — Kroll has the ability to track the assets down so they can be returned to their rightful owners. We accomplish this by gathering information about the misappropriation or embezzlement, finding and reviewing documentation of transfers, assembling a timeline of suspicious activities and following the money trails, often across borders. Throughout asset search investigations, we frequently work with police and legal officials to prepare charges against the perpetrator(s). We seek out trusts and other entities that may conceal the identity of the owner.
When the lines between companies and individuals appear to have blurred, Kroll’s forensic accountants analyze the indicia of alter ego claims and testify at trial, which provides courts with an expert opinion that permits an informed determination on whether there is corporate separateness or whether the veil should be pierced and the two entities should be treated as one. We evaluate the relevant factors, including accounting infrastructure, such as whether there are separate bank accounts, boards of directors and adequate internal controls, and we review whether loans and other transactions have been at arm’s length. We also look at how expenses are paid and assets used or shared.
The Kroll Advantage
Counted among Kroll’s many successes are investigations into assets misappropriated by Saddam Hussein, Ferdinand Marcos, Jean-Claude Duvalier and other deposed dictators and their regimes. We have also exposed countless corporate alter egos, enabling lawsuits to be equitably settled. Our forensic accountants, including former partners at each of the “big four” accounting firms, bring experience and expertise in analyzing the evidence of relationships between entities. With expert opinions founded on rigorous approaches and methodologies, our investigations and evaluation of alter ego indicia are both thorough and objective.
In every assignment, Kroll leverages its on-the-job experience and knowledge of global banking practices and international law. Since we have operations in over 65 cities around the world, we often have on-the-ground employees where an investigation is taking place. This gives us a unique advantage in addressing the jurisdictional issues often associated with asset search investigations.
Sample Case Work
Business owner unable to hide assets by transferring monies to personal accounts
A city terminated a contract with the company that hauled its trash after the owner pled guilty to bribery of a government official. In attempting to recover monies paid to the company, it found that the funds were transferred to the owner. A Kroll forensic accountant evaluated alter ego indicia of corporate separateness and provided expert testimony in the matter. The judge agreed with the city and ruled that the assets of the business owner were available to the city should it win on its claims.
Saddam Hussein's Financial Network
The Kuwaiti government hired Kroll to investigate the financial network used by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to hide assets in the West. Kroll’s work linked Hussein to millions in assets held through nominees in the U.S. and Europe, exposing his front companies and agents.
Contact Us
- Daniel Karson (North America)
- Brian Stapleton (Europe, the Middle East & Africa)
- Anne Tiedemann (China)
- Tad Kageyama (Japan & Korea)
- Vander Giordano (Latin America)
