Internal Investigations

In a company or association, there may be indications of wrongdoing, often initially only as unproven rumors, sometimes from serious whistleblowers, sometimes from confessing employees.
The company management must then clarify the internal misconduct as quickly as possible and intervene if necessary.
Such violations must be prevented in the future.
Official (investigative) proceedings can also give rise to internal investigations.
In times of corporate governance and stricter compliance rules, this internal clarification of facts is the very responsibility of company management.
The old “file a complaint, wait and see, then throw it out after a criminal conviction” no longer applies.

The vast majority of companies are not in a position to carry out extensive internal investigations with their own resources.
In most cases, this is also not advisable, as the company’s own employees, despite their professionalism, often do not have the necessary distance and there is no neutral clarification of the facts.

In addition, the damage caused by internal investigations – e.g. suspicions of employees, rumors about criminal activities in the company that reach customers – must not be greater than the damage that can be uncovered.
Abuses must be uncovered consistently but as discreetly as possible.

The successful execution of an internal investigation requires forensic experience, e.g. in interviewing witnesses and the IT-supported evaluation of data and documents.
Criminalistic intuition, experience in dealing with companies and employees and sound knowledge of the legal framework are required.

Minoggio Grezesch Bachmann have many years of experience in conducting and coordinating internal investigations.
We sift through internal data and documents, question company employees and external persons such as business partners on behalf of the employer.
We also act as a point of contact for the investigating authorities if official investigations are already underway.
We also have a broad network at our disposal if additional expertise is required in the course of the investigation.