On sources of evidence concerning business reputation

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Krioni A.E.

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On sources of evidence concerning business reputation

09 April 2020 | 587 views

When gathering information on the business reputation (business reliability) of natural persons and companies as part of our private investigative operations, we are guided by national legislation, international and national standards for investigative associations, and the methods developed within our company. 

We traditionally consider our key sources of information on the business reputation of a natural person to be oral and written evidence that reveals the personal and professional qualities of the subject under investigation.

Depending on the means of information-gathering employed, we use one of two methods: (1) oral (undercover) interview, or (2) collecting written documents, in full compliance with articles 3 and 5 of Federal Law No. 2487-1, dated 11.03.1992, ‘On private detective and security activity in the Russian Federation’.

During interviews, depending on the position the individual under investigation occupies in a company and on their current social status, we permit the use of only a small number of means of confidentially obtaining oral evidence:
- interviewing the colleagues, they share an office with
- interviewing their counterparties
- interviewing their neighbours in their residential block
- interviewing their former colleagues
- interviewing their former employer

In the event that the detective believes that an undercover oral interview could harm or compromise the confidentiality of the information-gathering, such that the risk of the detective’s intentions being discovered is disproportionately high given the objectives of obtaining the information, the investigator will gather evidence on the subject’s business reputation using the second method – gathering and analysing written documents from sources that include the following:

- public libraries containing research literature
- commercial registers of various partnerships and associations
- letters of recommendation
- registers of government and industry awards
- databases of judicial decisions
- news and media sources

Example: The Object under investigation is the CEO of a company. This means that any interaction with any member of the company’s staff could be considered a violation of the regulation on maintaining confidentiality. The Object’s senior status also makes it impossible to interview their previous employer. Accordingly, the detective should avoid interviewing individuals close to the Object, and instead limit themselves to gathering information from open sources – for example, by studying reviews from two business partners that are freely available on the Internet on the Object’s personal LinkedIn page.