Case Study
Management Fraud - Western Europe
Investigation of a sophisticated £25m fraud committed by the senior management team of a pan-European data centre business.
The team had persuaded investors to buy the business and retain them to run it. The team then proceeded to siphon off the investors’ cash and run the business down. By the time the new shareholders realised they had been duped the management team had vacated the firm’s headquarters and destroyed all of the company's electronic and hard copy records.
However, the team had overlooked crucial backup data, retained offsite by a third party. This was recovered and after painstaking restoration and analysis, sufficient evidence was secured to enable the investors' lawyers to obtain search and seizure orders against the former management team and freeze their assets.
Evidence subsequently recovered from the team's homes revealed details of multiple frauds, mismanagement and details of offshore bank accounts, where the investors' money had been diverted. The Investors were then able to launch civil recovery proceedings against the team, their advisers and third party suppliers which had colluded with the fraud.