Are there indications of unlawful asset transfers in your proceedings?
It is usually unclear whether the accused have already "squandered" the assets or are using criminal energy to protect them from the access of creditors.
ComFor Kriminalinsolvenzen offers cost-conscious pre-searches for real estate, company holdings or other luxury goods especially for insolvency administrators and restructuring consultants. Further investigations are only appropriate if there are reasonable positive prospects for the return of attachable assets.
Forensic Services
For each case, we develop an individual strategy in order to prove your claims in a way that can be used in court. We apply the following forensic service tools:
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
In 2019, Arno Hess founded ComFor Kriminalinsolvenzen, a company specialised in the investigation of unlawful asset transfers in insolvency proceedings.
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 (mandated by the insolvency administrator)
- Asset identification of the debtor of a holding company in order to recover titled claims (mandated by the insolvency administrator)
- Tracking of bribe payments by a German technology company (mandated by the insolvency administrator)
- Verification of claims from the trade of precious metals (mandated by a trade credit insurer)
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