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Fraud, misconduct, and deception never sleep and neither do we! Business has remained strong throughout 2021 and we continue to outshine our competitors by taking extra steps to get the facts straight. Advances in Artificial Intelligence are exciting and provide a great additional resource to the toolkit of a seasoned expert, but at least for now, it does not replace the analysis that our team performs day in and day out. Some of our 2021 projects are highlighted below.

Internal Investigations 
A leading financial institution retained us to investigate their CFO for misconduct. We performed a comprehensive investigation that included interviews, email reviews, and additional research. Based on our findings, the CFO was terminated. 

A large non-profit organization retained us to investigate a head of HR and a staff member for non-compliant conduct. The head of HR was terminated as a result of our findings. The HR head simply could not abide by the organization’s mandates and policies. 

We also completed an investigation of a GM heading up a team in one of the Big Three U.S. sports leagues, (basketball, baseball, and football), finding conflicts of interest and other red flags.

Third-Party Due Diligence and Supply Chain
Third-party vendor management projects have been keeping us busy. We performed a review of a large public company’s dozens of key supply chain partners throughout Asia, and helped identify weaknesses and strengths through due diligence of parent organizations, key principals, and subsidiaries. 

Our KLINKsmart due diligence portal simplifies third-party vendor management by tracking research and providing results in a clear and easy to use online platform. 

One of our largest projects this year involved assessing dozens of distributors for a large U.S. medical device manufacturer. Our findings made it clear that some vendors were not suitable for the client and were engaged in misconduct.

Kickback Schemes 
We performed a kickback investigation in Brazil, finding that employees making middle management salaries were buying up dozens upon dozens of businesses and real estate parcels and spending far more than they were making. As is often the case, the client did not perform due diligence on the thousands of vendors it used in its large manufacturing facility, allowing massive fraud to occur.

Litigation Support 
A chemical company was seeking a new vendor in China. We conducted research to help select a suitable option. Separately for this client, we developed intelligence regarding an ongoing litigation matter in China involving two separate competing vendors. 

Throughout 2021, we performed many litigation support matters, including investigations domestically and outside the U.S., finding infringement, violations of exclusion orders, and other critical information.

M&A Due Diligence
We are in the process of completing multiple M & A due diligence projects for clients engaged in acquiring businesses in multiple sectors, including hospitality, manufacturing, pharma, and in other sectors. 

Pre-Employment Screening 
Despite government labor shortages causing delays, KlinkCheck has been active in conducting high-level screening of executive team personnel for hedge funds, banks, and technology companies, and universities. We performed thousands of screening projects for a variety of clients hiring a diverse group of employees.

Our philosophy for screening is drastically different from our competitors. The biggest difference between our firm and the others is that we impose no metrics or pressure on our staff to get the work done, right or wrong. Similarly, we do not use hourly employees who have little incentive to get the job done correctly. As a boutique firm, we understand the need to set the bar high and outperform all others in the field. Every case is a testament to our reputation, and we have proudly served our clients for 20 years. Too often clients come to us for help after receiving “results” that are just wrong from other firms. If you are just checking a box, that’s one thing. If you really want to know facts, use the firm that makes that happen – KLINK.