Project Monopoly

A whistleblower alleges abuse of authority by top management, approving fictitious purchases and preferential sales for self-benefit.

Background

A Singapore-based urban developer received a tip-off that a trusted senior employee had been misusing his power. The employee had been seconded to manage overseas operations as a Managing Director and developed strong relationships with the local authorities and the joint venture partner.

He ingrained himself fully in the overseas operations such that a rotation of secondees was deemed detrimental to the success of the joint venture, giving him the opportunity to exert influence and control over the rest of the employees.

The whistleblower alleged that the Managing Director, with the assistance of a few favoured employees:

• awarded a significant contract to a company set up by the favoured employees
• facilitated payments to a vendor who allegedly did not perform the contracted services
• accorded preferential terms to an investor of the developed land.  

How we helped

We were engaged by the Company to investigate the whistleblower’s allegations. Our work involved:

• forensically imaging computers
• reviewing electronic and physical evidence collected
• conducting background checks of vendors and employees
• interviewing employees to determine the facts of the case and the extent of the issues.

Our investigation allowed us to analyse and corroborate information gathered from the interviews with documents located on employees’ computers and company registry records obtained from background searches. Through this analysis, we were able to build a timeline of events which refuted falsehoods
purported by the favoured employees.

Our review of the electronic evidence also identified two other schemes employed by the Managing Director and his favoured employees that were previously unknown to the client including:

• paying a marketing agency owned by the Marketing Manager to bring in the same investors that he had already brought in (and for which he had already received a commission)
• setting up a British Virgin Island company to lease land from the joint venture at preferential terms.

Results

As a result of our investigation, the Company was able to terminate the schemes employed by the Managing Director and his favoured employees, stemming further losses and restoring morale among the employees of the joint venture.

Our findings emphasised the need to rotate key employees in overseas ventures where it is easy for an individual to wield, and potentially abuse, their significant power.

Our investigation also demonstrated how responding appropriately and quickly to whistleblower allegations can uncover broader issues than first suspected.