A special thanks from CDDI to our clients for a banner (if not slightly bizarre) 2021

To no surprise, 2020 morphed into somewhat of an anomaly in the risk intelligence/detective sector, but at the same time became a banner year for CDDI--and we would like to thank our clients for putting their trust in our hands, not to mention a number of atypical and challenging cases throughout the region.

Highlights of these cases included:

• More than 30 “deep” investigations (standard, day-to-day investigations not included), with key cases covering:

1. Product diversion
2. Retail expansion scams involving backhanders during the identification of new locations (in three different countries)
3. The identification of organized crime figures in CEE, primarily involved in “immigration” efforts with regard to Ukrainian workers and lack of controls in HR companies. Interesting is that certain crime figures in fact dictated hiring, paperwork and payrolls for workers in some companies while both diverting female workers to prostitution and taking illegal cuts from Ukrainian employees.
4.  Deep and wide examination of the COVID-19 threat, beginning in January for two multinationals. With regard to COVID-19, CDDI’s early predictions of a widespread pandemic that would become the economic event of our time unfortunately proved all too true, which included not only start-stop lockdowns that would continue until at least the spring of 2021, but also government incompetence, vaccine rollout difficulties, etc. (Please note that some of these predictions were also published here on Linkedin). Both clients in the end reacted early with efforts to seriously mitigate damage to their firms.
5. Hundreds of hours of surveillance activities in a broad spectrum of investigations, with many, however, primarily centered on management or employee activities that were proven detrimental to client firms.
6. Pre-transaction checks that in the end resulted in clients identifying 1) serious fraud prior to investments and 2) serious FCPA risks posed by past infractions, corruption activities and/or business links to politically exposed persons (PEPs).
7. Multiple asset-trace investigations where debtors were effectively attempting to “hide” debt or blame COVID-19 for non-payment--even though CDDI was in fact able to identify serious real estate holdings and other indications of wealth.
8. Pro-bono advisory for victims who were defrauded by known scam artists in CEE, as well as for cases where physical abuse was noted. In such cases, CDDI advised on tactics and directed victims to both police and specialist legal counsel.

While COVID difficulties did increase man hours for standard investigations, the above resulted in an estimated 33 percent increase in revenue y/o/y.

So again, thanks for the trust. Last year was challenging for clients and CDDI alike, but with regard to 2021 and COVID-19, despite further challenges, we stand by our 2020 February and March predictions that the spring of this year will bring a slow normalization or “new normalcy” to our lives.

Additionally, we will soon restart the much-requested CDDI Cheat Sheet & Crime Report, which was halted in March 2020 due to work load, high-maintenance cases and the difficulties posed by COVID with regard to monitoring both corruption and organized-crime activities in the region. Crossing our fingers (as this business can be a bit unpredictable), but the plan is to get back to consistent monthly publications. Please let us know via Linkedin if you would like to be added to the subscription list.

Sincerely,

Preston Smith

CEO

Corporate Due Diligence and Investigation (CDDI)