SEPTEMBER 2016
In This Issue
Quick Links
Upcoming Events

Remember that Monday, October 10, is Columbus Day in the U.S., with banks and federal offices closed. It is also Thanksgiving Day in Canada, and we extend our warm wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to our clients and associates in the Great White North.
 
For our attorney clients, we have created an informative CLE program that has been approved by the State Bar of Texas. Call us at (713)781-9040 to arrange a convenient, complimentary program that provides ways to ensure your investigation adds value to your case. 
Next Edition Topics:

Too Close for Comfort: When employee friends and relatives become vendors
 
Hide the Bodies: Attempts by bad actors to shield their true identity
 
 

In this month's installment of VantagePoints, we present two articles concerning employees who steal from their employer. The first involves those who steal customers in order to start competing businesses. The second article discusses employee theft of machinery and equipment because of lax controls.
 
It is hard enough to run a business profitably without such problems. The specialists at ResultQuest® have the skill to not only document theft, but to formulate a response that minimizes the risk of future occurrences. Call us to discuss ways we can help you gain Knowledge for Informed Decisions® about internal theft.
 
We continue to value your comments regarding our newsletter, and hope you will recommend VantagePoints to your colleagues. We also welcome ideas for future topics in which you are interested. Send your suggestions to news@resultquestinc.com.  
 
J.R.Skaggs
Founder, Owner, and Manager

Bite the Hand: Simultaneous departure of key employees and valued clients
Many a business is built upon the foundation of trusted employees interacting closely with suppliers and valuable clients. When employees and their major clients leave at the same time, it can have a crippling effect. In one such matter worked by the team at ResultQuest®, attorneys for a produce wholesaler retained us to investigate the facts and circumstances behind the departure of a key, highly compensated salesperson, followed in short order by the top customer assigned to this individual.
 
When interviewed, the former employee, who was under a two-year non-compete agreement, claimed to be "burned out" on the produce industry and planning to change professions. The customer declined to be interviewed. Contact with suppliers, on the other hand, resulted in reports that the former employee was buying directly from them.
 
The investigation ultimately revealed that the salesperson had teamed with the former customer to start a competing produce business. It was uncovered that the two had colluded to undercut the former employer's prices in order to lure additional customers away-armed with purloined client and price lists.
 
The evidence gathered in the... Read More
Padding the Nest: When missing equipment ends up at your employee's home
Companies often make substantial investments in assets such as machinery and equipment. Improper asset control procedures and policies can lead to misuse, abuse, and theft of these valuable assets. The professionals of ResultQuest® have repeatedly been called on for their expertise in asset protection and recovery.
 
In one instance, the corporate counsel of a large multinational firm providing maintenance services to refineries employed the services of ResultQuest® to assist in determining the whereabouts of numerous pieces of machinery and equipment that were determined to be missing from one of their facilities as the result of a long overdue audit.
 
It was established that the majority of missing items were attributed to a particular workshop, including a welding unit, an air compressor, an ATV, and a trailer. A series of interviews of personnel yielded leads pointing to the shop foreman as the primary suspect.
 
Discreet surveillance of the foreman's home, in a secluded rural area, was deemed impractical. However, our team learned that he was going out of town on a hunting trip. During his absence and under suitable pretext, a visit to the home resulted in a report from his wife that... Read More