Employee Spotlight - Zack DeGeorge

Kreller investigators bring diverse backgrounds and global perspective and experience, and detail-oriented mindset to their work. Our blog series highlighting employee expertise and insight continues with this recent conversation with Senior Analyst of Special Investigations, Zack DeGeorge.

A Global Perspective

Zack DeGeorge earned a degree in international relations and served in the Peace Corps, giving him first-hand insight into different nationalities, cultures, and resources around the world. As an international corporate investigator he brings that knowledge to his daily work and says, “my goals today are the same as when I started in this job – I want fresh puzzles on my desk every day, from different places all around the world. Figuring out ways to help clients make sense of those puzzles is so much fun.”

The Pitfalls of In-house Investigation

Many companies conduct internal investigations to get to the bottom of situations; however, Zack points out potential pitfalls with that approach when companies don't know what they don't know.

There are so many sources of information and records that companies are not aware of, or lack the background to carefully vet. Laws and regulations also vary from country to country, which complicates gathering and collating documents. And that’s not to mention the need for accurate and timely language translation. 

The prevalence of artificial intelligence online also makes it easier for records to be falsified or even fabricated. This makes it more important than ever to evaluate sources and question their origins and bias.

The Benefits of Choosing External Expertise

Companies often find an investigation is a bigger task than initially expected. The choice to work with a corporate investigation expert, like Kreller, opens up access to an experienced team who can quickly navigate systems of information and connect all the pieces of a situation. 
“The ability to quickly synthesize information from a variety of sources is vital,” Zack says. “Several years ago we had a client who was concerned that one of their employees might be colluding with an outside contractor. By running down business affiliations in multiple countries and cross referencing that with the contractor's statements, we were able to confirm the existence of a prior relationship, disprove lies being told by the contractor, and identify prior allegations of fraud. Ensuring that we looked at the contractor's wider business beyond its specific relationship with our client helped us identify more problems than were immediately apparent.” 

Most companies focus their time, staffing, and expertise on their core business; investigations are not generally part of day to day operations and can be outside of their wheelhouse. Professional investigators also provide much needed context about geographical, social, and business practices that come into play when tracking down records and documents. 

“Our investigations are usually ordered by senior management, legal counsel, and/or members of a compliance team,” Zack says. “We … keep in mind … they may choose to show [our written findings] to third parties. We typically compile information into a single document, with source material appended … [with] adverse information … prominent and well sourced.”

Meeting the Challenges of Modern Investigations

Over the years Zack has observed searching for records, analyzing data, and making connections in a case takes careful time management. “The more complex the investigation, the more rabbit holes you can run into, and deadlines can be tight,” he says. “The best way I've found to deal with those challenges is to [focus] what's most important to the client, and being transparent with them about stumbling blocks or issues they may want to focus more on at a later date.”

Another emerging challenge is AI. In an online environment where almost anyone can change, obscure, or even delete records and information, “we’re already running into situations where some media searches get flooded with AI generated nonsense – we need to figure out ways to sort through that nonsense without missing critical information published by reliable sources.” 

While AI and automated information systems do hold some promise for searches, scanning documents, formatting data, and other basic tasks, Zack feels the core of investigative work will require human beings for the foreseeable future. “Ensuring that investigators and clients are asking the right questions and verifying that outputs are accurate and consistent across multiple sources is still far outside [AI’s and automation’s] wheelhouse.”

Some old problems persist too. Zack says in his work he often sees examples of old schemes and frauds with modern twists. Examples include Ponzi schemes with a cryptocurrency hook; CEO fraud with email or voice spoofing, collusion with contractors, or illegal kickbacks that are coordinated through social media. 

Despite the challenges, Zack has an optimistic outlook about increased access to records and documents. “I think we'll continue to see incremental progress [in] digitization and publication of public records … expand[ing] to places where things currently need to be done in person. Hopefully barriers and costs of access will continue to drop. I think we'll continue to see a push and pull on topics like declarations of beneficial ownership … and occasional retrenchment in some places … where it’s harder to get some corporate information now than it was 5 years ago, but I think that globally the general trajectory will be positive.”

An Investment in Risk Management

Companies sometimes view working with an investigator as a major expense that could be dealt with internally. Zack’s impression is that an external investigation highlights red flags but also brings clarity in places where leadership or employees may have blind spots. This can include patterns of contradictory statements by managers or sales team members, excessive spending, lax internal controls, and personal relationships with contractors or government representatives, any of which a thorough investigation can bring to light. 

A modest expenditure in expert investigation can help address issues in the moment, or at least make a plan, rather than risk time- and resource-intensive fixes later on. 

No corporation is perfect, but transparency and a willingness to look at objective data go a long way toward building a solid reputation. “A brand is best protected by a history of exemplary conduct, and barring that, by swift and honest acknowledgment of failings when they occur. Ensuring that an internal investigation is thorough goes a long way toward that second goal,” Zack says.

At Kreller we bring experience and resourcefulness to every client we work with. Please contact us to learn more.