Due Diligence Consulting conducts investment research, executive background checks and private investigations for hedge funds, public companies, private equity firms, family offices, investor groups, law firms, and foundations.
DDC was engaged to research the CEO of private real estate investment company. The CEO is a socially prominent and politically well-connected former attorney. DDC found that all 8 of his claimed philanthropic endeavors, as stated in his company bio, were lies. This CEO is now being sued by several parties in several jurisdictions for fraud.
Peter Barakett, President
DDC investigations LLC
DDC – Due Diligence Consulting LLC
DDC was engaged to research a prominent Registered Investment Advisor before our family client engaged him to manage family assets and participate in a private placement that was being offered. DDC found that the advisor falsely claimed to have graduated from a well known university and that he had misrepresented certain other items in his professional bio.
Peter Barakett, President
DDC Investigations LLC
DDC – Due Diligence Consulting LLC
DDC was recently engaged to conduct due diligence on the two founders of a Canadian private company (internet based services) that our client was prepared to invest a significant amount of capital into in order to “supercharge its growth”. We found that one founder had a trial of fraudulent investment schemes in Canada going back 10 years, and that almost every line item of the other founder’s bio was materially misrepresented (graduated from Yale; never attended. was drafted by a professional sports franchise; was never drafted. etc., etc.).
Peter Barakett, President
DDC Investigations LLC
DDC – Due Diligence Consulting LLC
We’ve had a few clients ask us if we would have found red flags in a check on Martoma if they had engaged DDC to research him prior to his recent insider trading case (a jury found him guilty). We reflexively said yes, based on our process-driven approach and our experience with highly detailed due diligence research. But then we asked ourselves, how can we know for sure?
So we ran him through our 62 page, single-lined, process, omitting media and other search results that related to the insider trading case. Results were as we expected. There are enough red flags to raise concerns for any prospective employer or investor.
DDC found that he changed his name, after his father changed his name, after Matthew left Harvard Law. DDC found an obscure article written by Martoma that identifies himself as a student at Harvard Law.
DDC speculates that Martoma may have asked his father to change his name so that he would have a plausible reason for doing so later, and enhance the propsects of successfully covering any connection to Harvard Law and his expulsion from that institution.
There was a great Wall Street Journal article this week on Martoma and the benefits of comprehensive background checks. Read more here.
The bottom line is a quick and inexpensive background check only provides a snaphot of any person or company and rarely tells the whole story. A detailed research like the ones DDC provides would have alerted an investor or employee to the multiple issues in Martoma’s background.
Peter Barakett, President
DDC Investigations LLC
DDC – Due Diligence Consulting LLC