Internal Investigations

Kostelanetz LLP attorneys have extensive experience in conducting independent internal investigations for corporations, financial institutions, law firms, professional services firms, nonprofits, and other organizations, both foreign and domestic, facing potential or actual scrutiny from law enforcement, regulators, shareholders, and/or the public.

Organizations often call on our attorneys for in-depth analyses of alleged misconduct or to identify flaws within an organization’s operations to develop solutions internally before they become problems externally. We often assist large, medium, and small companies, corporate boards of directors, and special committees in navigating sensitive internal investigations with discretion and efficiency. Our experienced attorneys provide strategic guidance in identifying risks, uncovering potential wrongdoing, and ensuring compliance with federal and state laws and regulations.

We have deep experience conducting investigations into complicated financial fraud matters and untangling evidence buried in complex record-keeping. We routinely partner with forensic accountants, particularly former investigators from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other government agencies, to help organizations address a variety of challenges. We conduct a range of investigations:

• Corporate Fraud & Financial Misconduct—Our attorneys investigate allegations of suspected embezzlement, money laundering, accounting irregularities, antitrust law violations, insider trading, financial regulation violations, and other white-collar crime.
• Regulatory & Compliance Investigations — We help companies assess compliance with the IRS, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and other regulatory mandates.
• Whistleblower and Workplace Misconduct — We handle allegations related to fraud, sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and other employment law matters.
• Monitorships and Receiverships — We are able to serve as monitors to ensure compliance with court orders or settlement agreements as well as serve as court-appointed receivers or assist as counsel to receivers to ensure proper protection of assets and property.

Our investigative team has also handled internal investigations involving international and cross-border issues, such as alleged international market manipulation, and conducted witness interviews and gathered evidence abroad.

Our attorneys have a deep understanding of how governmental authorities operate, and the firm has the ability to assemble a seasoned team quickly, investigate matters quietly and efficiently, and report its findings and recommendations objectively. Indeed, our attorneys are often selected to conduct sensitive and high-profile investigations because of our firm’s strong reputation for public service.

The firm’s Director of Investigations is the former Chief of the IRS’s Criminal Investigations Unit. Several of our attorneys have served as federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Tax Division and as state prosecutors in New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts. In addition, one of our partners was appointed by the Attorney General of the State of New York as Special Counsel to conduct the “Troopergate” investigation into political interference in the New York State Police, and another partner has nearly a decade of experience in enforcement matters at the SEC.