Are there indications of unlawful asset transfers?
It is often unclear whether the accused have already "squandered" the assets or are using criminal energy to protect them from the access of creditors.
ComFor offers cost-conscious pre-searches for real estate, company holdings, cryptocurrencies or other luxury goods. Further investigations are only conducted when promising prospects for the recovery of attachable assets emerge.
Forensic Services
For each case, we develop a tailored strategy to substantiate your claims in a court-admissible manner. We utilize the following tools from our Forensic Services division:
Asset tracing
Top priority of an investigation is the increase of the insolvency assets. Therefore, we conduct asset tracing at the beginning of the project. If necessary, we cooperate with an international network of forensic investigators with many years of experience.
Background research
Background research reveals personnel and corporate links to the people and companies involved. We use the full range of different information sources from publicly accessible databases to social media or means of social engineering.
Cash flow analysis
Cash flow analyses are a proven tool in the investigation of white-collar crime, to uncover manipulated documents and false statements. Thus, bank statements are always the starting point of our analyses, as they are usually not manipulated.
E-mail analysis
E-mail analyses are suitable to obtain additional information about the motives of the accused. In rare cases, we have identified unlawful agreements and task assignments. We also extend the search radius to identify further accomplices against whom claims can be raised.
Forensic interviews
Forensic interviews are the star lessons of any investigation. Usually, the accused hold plausible justifications for their discharge. In order to penetrate these, we apply different interviewing techniques up to controversial allegations, depending on the situation.
Fact Finding
Company's documents are usually used to identify facts and evidence for the assertion of civil and criminal claims. Our fact-based documentation can be directly incorporated into statements of claim and criminal complaints.
Expertise
Arno Hess founded ComFor in 2019, a company specializing in forensic investigations of unlawful asset transfers.
Arno Hess
Degree in business administration
Accountant
Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
Memberships:
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE)
- Arbeitskreis für Insolvenzwesen Köln e. V.
Arno Hess has over 20 years of experience in the forensic investigation of white-collar crimes. He has worked on numerous prominent cases of corruption, fraud and balance sheet manipulation and has established an international network of forensic and legal advisors.
From 1999, Arno Hess has worked for the auditing firms PwC and KPMG in the Forensic Services division before taking over as Head of Forensics at AGS Legal, a law firm specialised in representing claimants, in 2013. From 2016 to 2019, he held the same position at the international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills.
For more than 10 years, Arno Hess has been engaged in the German Association of Certified Fraud Examiners e.V. (ACFE), a specialised association for combating white-collar crime. He was a member of the board from 2014 to 2022.
Credentials
- Identification of stock shortages at a food wholesaler
- Asset identification of the debtor of a holding company in order to recover titled claims
- Tracking of bribe payments by a German technology company
- Verification of claims from the trade of precious metals
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