company - Global Fraud Conference
Transcription
company - Global Fraud Conference
Investigating on the Internet: Research Tools for Fraud Examiners Cynthia Hetherington HetheringtonGroup.com Researching Foreign Corporate Records Services and Sources Services: Kompass.com Skyminder.com Skyminder Credit Reporting Bureau van Dijk D&B Other Sources: Check out the website The library Associations Personal histories Search engines Newspaper and journals The Possibilities The volume is staggering: Thousands of databases Millions of websites Dozens of possible experts Hundreds of listservs, mailing lists, e-mail groups The Possibilities Someone has done this before, and you need to find him or her Do not forget: TRY ALL NAME VARIATIONS! You might spell it right, but journalists might not Kompass.com Kompass originated in Switzerland and now operates in 70 countries With a subscription, you can search: Regions Products/services Companies Trade names Executives Codes Kompass.com Example One: Bugshan Company Name: Bugshan Location: Saudi Arabia Abdullah Said Bugshan & Bros Abdullah Said Bugshan & Bros. 20th Fl., Bugshan Bldg. Corniche Street, Balad Jeddah, 21411, Saudi Arabia Phone: + 966 2 6473840,6476070 Fax: + 966 2 6474627 Abdullah Said Bugshan & Bros. Number of employees (company total): 75 Company type: Headquarter Office hours: Sat–Thu, 9:00–1:30, 4:00–7:30 PO Box address: PO Box 378, 21411 Jeddah Executives and Products Executives: Mohd Ahmed Bugshan (Owner) Hashim Moiny (General Manager) Activities: Airport Equipment, Air Conditioning Equipment Search by Executive Mohd Ahmed Bugshan Example Two: Latin Percussion Inc. 160 Belmont Ave Garfield, NJ 07026-2344 United States Phone: +1 973 478-6903 Fax: +1 973 772-3568 Products and Services Sample Two: Latin Percussion Executives Martin Cohen (Chairman of the Board) General Information Total # of employees: 80 Company type: Headquarter Web Link: http://www.lpmusic.com Check Out the Website Never underestimate company websites Information is always biased or forgotten Look for: Locations and geography Years mentioned, dates of birth, missing dates Family members mentioned Business members mentioned History of any kind Addresses, e-mail addresses, phones, and faxes www.lpmusic.com Mark Cohen, President . . . Then “The story of Latin Percussion is the passion of one man. A passion which drove him to create, innovate, and unmistakably change the face of percussion forever.” “In 1956, a young mechanical engineer and avid photographer from the Bronx named Martin Cohen happened upon New York's famous Birdland jazz club. . . .” And Now . . . www.congahead.com Christmas Party at the Cohen's House 2004 Vivianne's Birthday 2004 Matthew's 9th Birthday Party Germany / Switzerland (Europe 2004 Trip) Holland (Europe 2004 Trip) Paris (Europe 2004 Trip) Mother's Day 2004 San Francisco Gallery—April 2004 Easter 2004 Gallery My 65th Birthday Bash in Montvale, NJ The Point Is the Content We Find In October 2002, Kaman Music Corporation of Bloomfield, CT, the world’s largest independent distributor of musical instruments and accessories, purchased Latin Percussion. SkyMinder SkyMinder An affiliate of Italian company CRIBIS Used by more than 330 Italian banking and financial institutions More than 14,000 Italian, European, and U.S. companies access the service Supplies online credit and business information SkyMinder A great source for cheap D&B information Provides financial and corporate reports other than D&B’s Only works with Internet Explorer version 5.0 and newer SkyMinder Provides information on: Marketing data Line of business Incorporation details Shareholders/owners Executives Employees Office and facilities SkyMinder Provides information on: Business structure (headquarters, parent, branches, subsidiaries) Rating Credit limit Payment information Financials Banking relationships and accountants Litigations Example: Bugshan Note Company and Credit Results Example: Bugshan Abdullah Said Bugshan & Bros SkyMinder Company Result Bugshan, Abdullah Said, & Bros Abdullah Said Bugshan & Bros PO Box 378, Jeddah 21411, Saudi Arabia Tel: (02) 647 3840; (02) 647 5301 International Tel: +966 (2) 647 3840; Fax: (02) 647 9397 International Fax: +966 (2) 647 9397 Company E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Website: http://www.abugshan.com Date of Establishment: 1923 Principal Activities Communications projects Electrical projects Civil works projects Further Information Board of Directors: Ali Abdullah Bugshan (President) Management: Marei Abdullah Bugshan (Chief Executive Officer) Mohamed Ahmed Bugshan (General Manager) Hashem Muiny (Finance Manager) No. of Employees: 500 Size of Company – Sales: $0 Further Information Profit Before Tax: $0 Profit After Tax: $0 Sales/Employee: $0 Principal Banks: National Commercial Bank; Saudi Hollandi Bank Principal Agencies: Komatsu; ZyLab; Fujitsu; AT&T; Lucent Technology; ADME; Nera; Deutz; Rockwell Collins Subsidiary Companies: Saudi Wiemer & Trachte Ltd (51%) SkyMinder Credit Reporting 19 companies have been found by the system. 1. ABDULLAH ALI A BUGSHAN 2. ABDULLAH SAID BUGSHAN & BROS. 3. ABDULLAH SAID BUGSHAN & BROSHEAVY EQUIPMENT 4. ABDULLAH SAID BUGSHAN AND BROTHERS 5. ABDULLAH SAID BUGSHAN COMPANY Immediate Versus While You Wait The company report from SkyMinder was generated by Graham & Whiteside Ltd and cost $10. The credit report can be purchased by any number of vendors, and will range from $3.50 to $400, based on turnaround time and service provider. SkyMinder’s D&B Report For $3.50 you get … ABDULLAH SAID BUGSHAN AND BROTHERS COMPANY DUNS number: 86-966-3518 Company address: SAUDI FERENCH BANK BLD.6TH FL., OLD AIRPORT STREET RIYADH 11411 SAUDI ARABIA Middle East Mailing address: PO BOX 80 RIYADH SAUDI ARABIA 11411 Middle East Telephone number: 0966 14760105 Fax number: N/A Year founded: 1923 Location type: Single Location Line of Business: ELECTRICAL APPARATUS AND EQUIPMENT, NSK SkyMinder’s D&B Report SIC Codes: 1521 1522 1629 1711 4813 5063 Import/Export Indicator: Imports & Agents Executives: ABDULLAH SAID BUGSHAN, CHAIRMAN SULIMAN SAID BUGSHAN, GENERAL MANAGER MARAI ABDULLAH BUGSHAN, MANAGER ADMINISTRATION ABDULLAH AHMED BUGSHAN, ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER IBRAHIM AL DEMAIS, PROJECT MANAGER YOSEIF ABU ALREESH, DEVELOPMENT MANAGER FAROOQ ALKATHEERI, COMMERCIAL MANAGER FAWZI ASSAD TUFAHA, FINANCE MANAGER Employees: Employees Here: 250 Total Employees: 250 Annual Sales: Annual Sales in Local Currency: 19,000,000 (Estimated) Annual Sales in US Dollars:19,000,000 (Estimated) Report update: June 22, 2003 Single-family house construction Residential construction Heavy construction Plumbing/heating/air cond contractor Telephone communications Whol electrical equipment Bureau van Dijk There is much this service offers. Osiris offers the most comprehensive search, yet there are language-specific and industry-specific services. Information tends to be generated by chambers of commerce, state/regional filings, and annual reports. U.S. and Canadian reports do have D&B information. Bureau van Dijk Bureau van Dijk: International Bureau van Dijk: International The all-in-one service Bureau van Dijk: National Bureau van Dijk: Economic Zephyr – Merger and acquisition data, including IPO and venture capital deals with links to the company records (>230,000 transactions) Cameo/Trace – You can search for, and verify, any individual’s name and address anywhere in the UK via Electoral Roll EIU Modules – City, country, and more Example: Latin Percussion Company name Identification numbers Financial information content Top companies Geographic location Industry Expert Employees Search Financials Items Ratios User-defined variables Ownership data M&A deals Listed/unlisted Active/inactive Legal form Auditors Board members and managers Year of incorporation Accounting data Updated reports Example: Latin Percussion Example: Latin Percussion Dun and Bradstreet The largest provider of corporate reports internationally, it covers 100 million companies. Information can be contributed into the report; use D&B reports as a lead, not the answer. Best parts of the reports are not the financials! Name of company and owner Phone and fax History of company and principals Public filings Best part of D&B is being able to search inside its database! D&B D&B United States Fraudulent companies often share fax numbers even though they generate new phone numbers. Searching by principals’ names will often show former company interests or current interests. D&B automatically does SOUNDEX searching. The name “Bill” will generate “William” hits. Address searches will show other companies listed at the same address, including Mail Box, etc. Foreign company searches can be limited Other Sources of Information International Associations: •www.ACFE.com •www. intelnetwork.org •www.wad.net •www.cii2.org Local and foreign libraries Associations Personal histories News, media, and trades Foreign press Embassies here and there The Library Visit the nearest large library and ask to speak with a business reference librarian This individual is trained in information research, not analysis Business reference librarians: Answer questions. Locate sources for new information. Assist on expensive database searches. Talk to other librarians all over the planet, specializing in all trades, who are happy to assist. Associations Check out the related associations for the industry of your target company Scan by: Name of company Name of subsidiary companies Affiliated companies Personal names Read association newsletters, press releases, meeting minutes, and conference proceedings Personal Histories Check out Zoominfo.com American citizen tied to company in Riyadh Board memberships showing conflict of interest English language only, so far Search Engines Be sure to scan foreign search engines to get foreign news and mentions of your target Specialized engines and invisible Web sources: SearchSystems.net BRBPub.com Corporateinformation.com Countries’ patent and trademark sites Countries’ stock exchange sites Google and Other Engines Popular search engines like Google and Yahoo! have country-specific engines that the examiner should explore. Newspaper and Journals Try your library at the office, at home, or at the university. Fee-based services are: Lexis-Nexis (nexis.com) Dialog (dialogweb.com) Factiva (factiva.com) All three have foreign-language searches, date back to the 1970s in content, and offer full-text searching. Nexis.com