insurance fraud investigations

Typical Business to Business Services of a Private Investigator

When many of us think of private investigators, we think of men in parked cars doing surveillance and information gathering on cheating spouses, or insurance scammers or many other suspicious characters.

But a lot of what private investigators do is “white collar” work, sitting behind a computer or going through documents at the courthouse, gathering information for members of the business community.

If you own a business and you need some good investigative work done on your behalf, you should definitely consider retaining the services of a licensed and professional private investigator. Steven Gonzales, from Aces Investigations Bodyguard who works specifically with businesses says, “We get hired most of the time by companies to recover assets.” The majority of the cases we have is when a partner or family member split ways with the business and decided to commit theft, says Gonzales.

Some of the things he or she can help your business with include:

Background Checks

American businesses lose billions of dollars every year due to the unscrupulous activities of their employees, so you should definitely consider doing background checks on anyone you’re thinking of hiring.

Most of these losses are from employee theft, so let an investigator do some digging and ascertain a potential employee’s possible risk.

They can check educational backgrounds, job history and even social media posts to get a better idea of the person you’re thinking of hiring, thus decreasing the probability of hiring unscrupulous or dishonest employees.

Business Acquisitions

If you’re going to be purchasing a rival business, you’ll definitely want to go the extra mile to ensure that your due diligence has been completed and there are no surprises coming.

In fact, you can even request a formal document called a “Business Due Diligence Report” from the investigator that you hire, which can prove invaluable when you’re at the negotiating table.

This report can include items like a company profile, any judgements or bankruptcies in the past, corporate assets, liens and a cornucopia of other information.

Attorney Referrals

There are more than a million active attorneys in the United States today, so choosing one for your business can be a difficult task.

A good private investigator can assess your company’s individual needs and research the best attorney for you. Chances are pretty good that he or she knows quite a few attorneys anyway, just by virtue of their line of work, so letting the investigator do the legwork for you is a good idea.

Choosing the wrong attorney can cost you and your business a lot of money, so don’t be afraid to ask for some help from your private investigation firm of choice.

Investment Inquiries

Investing in other businesses is a proven way for companies to improve their bottom line, particularly if it’s a publicly traded company that must answer to their shareholders.

A private investigator can research any firm or potential partnership to ensure that your investment is in good hands, thoroughly inspecting all business records to verify a wide range of information. You can always research brokers using a company called Broker Check, who has developed a tool you can use to research brokers.

This includes things like any current or pending lawsuits, injury claims by employees, supplier and contractor agreements, subcontractor relationships and much more.

Investigators can also conduct in-person interviews with key employees and clients to ensure that all levels of the business have been inspected and thoroughly vetted.