Corporate Fraud Investigation Services UK

GSA Global provides corporate fraud investigation services for organisations dealing with suspected employee, management, supplier or third-party fraud.

The first indication may be an unexplained payment, unusual supplier activity, a whistleblowing allegation, irregular records or evidence that an account or process has been compromised. At that stage, the organisation may not know whether fraud has occurred, who is involved, how long it has been happening or the extent of any financial exposure. Early decisions about evidence preservation, access and who is informed can materially affect the investigation.

We help clients establish what happened, how it happened and who was involved through review of relevant records and transactions, corporate and open-source research, interviews and technical support where required. The resulting findings provide the organisation and its legal, financial, insurance and other authorised advisers with an evidential basis for determining the appropriate next steps.

Types of Fraud We Investigate

Employee fraud, including theft of funds or stock and abuse of position; procurement fraud, including rigged tenders, inflated pricing, kickbacks and undeclared supplier interests; false invoicing; expense fraud; payment diversion, including cyber-enabled diversion via compromised email; asset misappropriation; bribery and corruption, in the UK or through overseas agents; conflicts of interest exploited for gain; collusion between employees and third parties; and false representations by counterparties or business partners. If the concern is broader wrongdoing that may or may not involve fraud, our corporate investigation services page describes the wider capability.

Initial Fraud Response

What is done before the investigation starts often shapes what the investigation can achieve. In the first hours and days, relevant records — emails, files, access and system logs, financial records, devices — should be identified and preserved proportionately, with routine deletion suspended for the systems involved. Knowledge of the suspicion should be restricted to those who genuinely need it. Access, communications and evidence-preservation steps should be planned carefully before potentially implicated individuals are approached, since a premature confrontation or a sudden lockout can affect evidence, funds and the accounts of other witnesses. Legal advisers should be involved early, as employment, disclosure and recovery questions arise immediately, and notification obligations to insurers, regulators or police are decisions for the organisation and its lawyers — we help by establishing the facts those notifications depend on. None of this is legal advice; it is investigative practice.

Interviews and Evidence Review

Interviews are sequenced according to the circumstances. Where possible, relevant documentary and technical evidence will be secured and reviewed before potentially implicated individuals are interviewed, so that accounts can be tested against the record. Interviews are planned, conducted fairly and recorded accurately, and exculpatory explanations are pursued as seriously as incriminating ones: an investigation that only looks for guilt produces findings no one can rely on.

Fraud Investigation Reports

A fraud investigation report typically sets out the terms of reference and methodology; a chronology of the scheme as evidenced; the transactions, documents and records relied on, referenced in an evidence schedule; findings on what occurred and who was involved; and limitations. Where the available records permit, the investigation may identify the known or potential financial exposure, working alongside the client’s financial advisers where appropriate. Reports can be structured to support review by the organisation’s legal advisers, insurers and other authorised stakeholders. We do not guarantee that any particular evidence will be admissible in proceedings (admissibility is a legal question) but evidence is gathered and documented in a manner designed to support onward legal use.

Our Fraud Investigation Team

David Wood and Bob Quick QPM provide senior oversight, with command-level experience of fraud, corruption and organised-crime investigation. Ellen Davies leads the open-source and corporate-research elements. Mark Raeburn and Anthony Dickinson contribute where fraud is cyber-enabled, as described above; Dr Brian Moore QPM contributes where the fraud emerged through whistleblowing or sits within a regulatory context.

Our Corporate Fraud Investigation Capabilities

Internal Fraud Investigations

The core of an internal fraud investigation is reconstruction: what happened, how, over what period and involving whom. That typically means systematic review of documents and financial records; analysis of transactions and payment flows for patterns, round amounts, split approvals, timing anomalies, beneficiary changes; research into corporate relationships between employees and external entities; examination of system access and activity; and structured interviews. Findings are built on evidence, not suspicion, and the report distinguishes what is established, what is indicated and what remains open.

Procurement Fraud and Supplier Collusion

Procurement fraud is typically established by comparing the documented position with the underlying reality. We examine supplier ownership and control against employee interests and relationships; connections between supposedly competing bidders; payment patterns against contract terms and market norms; approval chains and their exceptions; and documentation for signs of fabrication. Corporate-registry research and open-source investigation frequently reveal undeclared connections. Where a supplier relationship is doubtful rather than demonstrably corrupt, investigative due diligence may be the proportionate first step.

Bribery and Corruption Investigations

Bob Quick QPM led the Metropolitan Police Anti-Corruption Command, and David Wood led Metropolitan Police work against corruption and organised crime; both provide senior oversight of bribery and corruption matters. We investigate suspected bribery involving employees, agents and intermediaries, payment flows, gifts and hospitality patterns, decision anomalies and third-party relationships and report findings that the organisation and its legal advisers can assess against their obligations, including under the Bribery Act 2010. Whether conduct amounts to an offence, and what the organisation must do about it, are legal questions for your advisers; our role is the evidence.

Financial and Open-Source Intelligence

Fraud rarely stays inside the ledger. Ellen Davies, our Lead Open-Source Investigator, supports fraud investigations with corporate research into the entities receiving funds, identification of assets and interests connected to subjects from lawful public sources, network analysis linking employees, suppliers and beneficiaries, and adverse-media research. GSA does not access private bank accounts, credit files or other protected financial records without lawful authority. Where formal financial disclosure is needed, that is obtained through legal process by the client’s lawyers, our findings often help them target it.

Cyber-Enabled Fraud and Technical Evidence

A growing share of corporate fraud is cyber-enabled: supplier payments diverted through compromised email accounts, credentials abused to alter beneficiary details, controls bypassed through technical means. Where a fraud has a technical dimension, GSA can draw on its cyber-security capability to scope the technical work, how accounts were compromised, what access was used, what the activity records show and coordinate any specialist examination required. Mark Raeburn provides strategic direction where a fraud connects to a cyber incident; Anthony Dickinson oversees the technical work and its integration into the fraud investigation. Where formal forensic acquisition or examination is required, often the case when evidence must support recovery action or prosecution appropriately appointed digital-forensic specialists are coordinated.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What should we do when fraud is suspected?

Preserve relevant evidence, restrict knowledge of the suspicion, plan carefully before approaching anyone potentially implicated, and take early advice, investigative and legal.

Should we confront the employee?

Before approaching a subject, the organisation should consider whether doing so could affect evidence, access, funds or the accounts of other witnesses. In most cases, relevant records are secured and reviewed first, so that any interview can test the account against the evidence.

Can GSA work with our lawyer or insurer?

Yes. Fraud investigations commonly proceed in coordination with legal advisers, and reports can be structured to support review by insurers and other authorised stakeholders.

Can cyber evidence be reviewed?

Yes. GSA can scope technical elements (compromised accounts, unauthorised access, control failures) through its cyber-security capability, and coordinate appropriately appointed digital-forensic specialists where formal acquisition is required.

Can you identify assets?

We identify assets and interests connected to subjects through lawful open-source and registry research, which frequently informs legal recovery strategy. Compelled disclosure and freezing measures are legal steps taken by your lawyers.

Can the investigation support a private prosecution?

Yes. Where the organisation and its lawyers decide to pursue one, we provide the investigative foundation — see private prosecution investigation support.