Professional notice
Kroll has recently made a series of hires and expanded its cyber risk offering. Its cutting-edge technologies and innovative programmes assist clients with forensic accounting, audits and asset recovery.
The firm
Kroll has been in the investigations market for close to five decades after being established in the US in 1972. Three years after its acquisition by Duff & Phelps in 2018 – from when on Kroll operated as a division of the financial consultancy – the business announced its intention to continue under the Kroll brand.
The global leader of the forensic investigations and intelligence practice at Kroll is Tom Everett-Heath in London, who joined Kroll in 2005. Everett-Heath is supported by a team of regional leaders including Richard Plansky in North America, a former New York state prosecutor specialising in complex investigations; financial services specialists Louis-David Magnien and Neil Kirton, who co-lead the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and both have a solid background in investment banking; and Tadashi Kageyama, who oversees the Asia-Pacific region, helps clients with fraud risk mitigation, and recently worked on Kroll's expansion into Australia and India. Managing director Paul Nash, an Englishman based in DC, has led some the firm’s most significant matters in Africa in recent years.
The firm’s investigative prowess is boosted by proprietary technology such as the Kroll Artifact Parser and Extractor, a triage program that can help collect and process digital information to find forensically valuable data, made available in early 2019. The programme was created by New York-based senior director Eric Zimmerman, a former FBI special agent. Kroll also offers customised crypto compliance and investigations support through collaborations with Chainalysis, TRM Labs and Coinfirm.
In March 2021, the firm’s data and cybersecurity offering was further boosted by its acquisition of Redscan, a UK-based cybersecurity services provider.
The firm has made a spate of hires in the past year. In January, Pamela Parizek, who previously served in the SEC’s enforcement division, joined as the North American lead for financial investigations. New York-based Elizabeth Kay – who has over 30 years of experience in banking, anti-money laundering and sanctions – joined the same month.
In April 2021, New York-based Andy Gandhi joined Kroll as the global leader of its data insights and forensics practice.
The firm recently opened an office in Frankfurt, led by Christoph Rojahn and Marcel Etschenberg, who joined in September 2020 and February 2021 respectively.
Gary Gill, formerly a director and head of investigations at a boutique practice in Sydney, joined Kroll as head of investigations for Australia in December 2020, and Tareq Haddad joined the Riyadh office in March 2021, having co-led PwC’s forensic services practice.
In April 2021, in an effort to bolster its ESG agenda and digital offering, Kroll added two experts to the company’s board, including a former managing director at the firm: Nicole Lamb-Hale, now an in-house general counsel at engine manufacturer Cummins.
Kroll also welcomed two new additions to its cyber risk practice in January 2021. John Bennett and Steve Bergman joined the San Francisco and Washington, DC, offices respectively. Bennett was previously the assistant director in charge leading the FBI Los Angeles Field Division, the third-largest FBI field division.
Carl Jenkins, who previously led the firm’s business intelligence and investigations, is now president of Kroll’s governance and risk advisory practice.
Recent events
Many of Kroll’s investigations are confidential, but the matters that do make it into the public eye reach far and wide and underscore the depth of experience at the firm. The firm’s diverse client features a host of large multinationals as well as government agencies.
Kroll has helped a Fortune 500 business investigate potential FCPA-related potential books and records violations in subsidiaries in various countries in Asia and presented the results to the DOJ and SEC.
The firm was involved in several notable investigations in Africa, including an investigation where US government development agency USAID commissioned Kroll, at the request of the Liberian government, to look into $100 million of missing banknotes in the country.
The firm also continues to support the DOJ-appointed monitorship of Russian telecoms company Mobile TeleSystems in connection with its FCPA settlement.
Network
Kroll has a presence in almost 80 offices across the globe.
Clients
Private companies it has worked for include technology company Tesla, Mexican brewery Modelo – part of AB InBev – and Dutch bank ING.
Track record
In 2020, the firm worked alongside Herbert Smith Freehills on an internal investigation for Nigeria-based oil company Lekoil into a $184 million loan from the Qatar Investment Authority that turned out not to exist.
Kroll has previously worked on an internal investigation into Brazilian state utility Eletrobras. The company settled an investigation by the SEC with a $2.5 million penalty. The Justice Department did not bring an enforcement action.
Kroll also acted as the compliance monitor to the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi in connection with a consent order agreed with the New York State Department of Financial Services. Kroll helped review the institution's Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance and more.
Kroll is a leader in global, technology-enabled investigations, recognized for conducting complex cross-border and internal investigations internationally. For nearly 50 years, we have worked as a trusted partner to public and private companies, law firms, governments and government agencies, assisting them in conducting some of the most complex and sensitive investigations, forensic audits, compliance reviews, and internal control and fraud risk assessments.
Our experienced forensic investigators and analysts, leading-edge technology and global reach provide clients with innovative, efficient solutions. We find the facts that matter and deliver actionable intelligence.
We have an extensive track record of delivering independent, complex, cross-border investigations and forensic audits in difficult operating environments with sensitive political contexts. Our range of services includes forensic accounting, digital forensics, high-end investigative research, human source intelligence and proactive and reactive cybercrime responses. We have the depth and breadth of expertise to undertake complex cross-border investigations in virtually any region of the world.
Why Choose Kroll?
- Unmatched Experience and Expertise in Challenging Situations
Our depth of experience and expertise enables us to take an informed, proven approach to our clients’ most complex challenges.
- Excellence and Efficiency Through Technology
We are constantly refining our extensive toolkit, applying the most appropriate technology to each investigation to deliver efficient, effective results.
- Global Approach, Local Understanding
We leverage our technical expertise alongside our deep geopolitical and sectoral knowledge and experience to provide strategic advice and high-end consulting services.
Our one profit and loss structure allows us to deploy professionals around the world on matters relating to fraud, corruption and money laundering based on their experience.
- Truly Independent Advisors
Investigations are at our core. We are not an audit or accounting firm, and as such, we have no conflicts that would dilute our focus and commitment.
Our recent investigations include:
- Investigation for a multinational corporation: Kroll was retained by a multinational corporation that experienced significant fraud within a foreign subsidiary, where a senior employee was successfully targeted by a criminal gang and was complicit in facilitating the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in multiple transactions to fake beneficiaries around the world. Alongside the client’s external counsel, Kroll provided forensic investigative support leading to significant recoveries.
- Investigation for Latvian Financial Intelligence Unit: In response to Latvia being subject to enhanced follow-up procedures following a MONEYVAL mutual evaluation, Kroll was engaged by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Latvia to assist in developing a strategy and framework for the review of multiple suspicious transactions reports (STRs) involving a Latvian bank that was designated a bank of prime money laundering concern by the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”).
Website: www.kroll.com
Contact Us:
North America
Richard Plansky
Regional Managing Director, North America
+1 212 523 0590
[email protected]
Paul Nash
Managing Director
+1 202 649 1215
[email protected]
Europe, Middle East and Africa
Zoë Newman
Managing Director and Global Co-Head of the Financial Investigations Practice
+44 207 029 5154
[email protected]
Howard Cooper
Managing Director and Global Co-Head of the Financial Investigations Practice
+44 207 029 5137
[email protected]
Asia Pacific
Tadashi Kageyama
Regional Managing Director, Asia Pacific
+65 6645 4959
[email protected]