Pre-Litigation • Credit Report • Multi-Jurisdictional

ASSET SEARCH

We have undertaken multiple asset searches on behalf of lawyers.  Often, these are to locate assets that eventually could be seized or recovered after due legal process.

Sometimes, the initial remit is to discover if there are sufficient assets to make litigation worthwhile.   

Read more for an Asset Search case study.

CREDIT REPORT

Lawyers often ask us to include a Credit Report as part of asset research investigations.

These can flag references to bankruptcies or court cases in which the target of the investigation has been the defendant.

BANK ACCOUNTS

As you will appreciate, until we gain the appropriate legal authority, we cannot access company or individual bank accounts in Hong Kong.

However, sometimes during the asset search, we find bank account details such as account numbers, statements or cheque book stubs. In such circumstances, we notify our client immediately.

KYC • Background Checks • Pre-Employment Checks 

INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES

Generally, we work on the basis of there being two broad types of background check: individuals and companies. 

Lawyers have often asked us to conduct background checks on companies and individuals of interest to clients. These have included companies that are being sued in connection with work-related issues, such as work-place injuries, or even a fraud case.  We are often asked to include a credit check on the subjects of the background check.

HIGH-PROFILE CLIENTS – KYC

From a lawyer’s perspective, it would be good to know if a client is a high profile individual and, therefore, likely to attract a substantial media following. Particularly for large cases with media scrutiny—Knowing Your Client (KYC)—is as important to the legal profession as to other sectors.  

For full details, visit our Background Check Services post.

Reputational IDD • Pre-IPO Research • KYC

INVESTIGATIVE DUE DILIGENCE

Veriton has specialized in Investigative Due Diligence from its inception with a focus on the reputation of the given entity(s).

We can work direct with private investors and  multi-national corporates or through their international lawyers.  

PRE-IPO DUE DILIGENCE

We conduct Pre-IPO Due Diligence research work on behalf of law firms wanting to ensure that the checks are thorough and independent. 

TERMS

Please contact VERITON for your Investigative Due Diligence requirements.  We can work on either a fixed contract or a retainer basis depending on length of project.

Trained Investigators • Analysts • Discretion

Intelligence gathering and investigations are part of our DNA.  

EX-POLICE CID OFFICERS

The majority of our investigators are professionally trained Detectives (former CID officers).  As such, they are used to working with legal professionals.

COURT PROSECUTION EXPERIENCE

Chris Wilson, Veriton’s co-founder, was himself a court prosecutor for 18 months. He also ran the Hong Kong Police Force’s Criminal Intelligence Analysis Training Course for a number of years.

DISCRETION GUARANTEED

As a company, we are used to working in tandem with lawyers.

Our researchers, investigators and surveillance teams, operate with the utmost discretion and entirely within the law.

COMPLEX CASES ARE CHARTED

We provide a link analysis chart to all Veriton clients for complex matter.  These are tools used as part of our investigative process.  However, lawyers find them useful in relaying results to their clients.

See below for more information.

Complex Cases Charted  • Briefing Aid

CASE TOO COMPLEX?

Is your law firm investigating a large and complex case?  Too many entities to understand the links?  Multi-jurisdictional companies with off-shoots?

SIMPLIFICATION THROUGH LINK CHARTING

The answer may lie in link analysis charting.  Link analysis is an examination of the links between entities.  These links are then graphically charted using lines, symbols and colours standardized for every project.  Textual annotations included.  The final chart makes every project easier to understand.

BRIEFING

Our charts have been used in multiple briefings with our lawyer clients.  

With the charts, we can quickly and easily:

• Document company details 
• Identify key personnel and shareholders
• Chart entity relationships to facilitate your understanding of a case

In turn, you can use a simplified version of the chart for your clients.

NEW LINK CHART TRAINING

As part of ongoing projects and associations, we have provided link analysis chart training to a couple of Hong Kong-based companies. 

These courses—albeit ad-hoc—were so successful that we have decided to run a six week course in link analysis charting.   

REGISTER INTEREST FOR TRAINING

If you believe that link analysis training is a skill that would benefit your staff, please register your interest.

Locates • Missing Persons

EXPERIENCE

We have handled many cases that involve locating individuals. 

Our most common request is from lawyers to locate individuals for the purpose of serving legal papers.

INFORMATION GATHERING

Before we begin attempting to locate an individual, we will ask you to complete a  detailed form. This has been developed over years and contains a comprehensive list of questions to aid location.

LEGITIMATE REASON TO LOCATE

Aside from the client-provided information assisting us in the location, we must be satisfied that there is no legal reason why you/ your client should not be in contact with the person. 

For instance, is there a Court Order requiring that your client have no contact with the person to be located? 

TYPES OF MISSING PERSONS

Our skills in locating people have been used to find:

• Heirs
• Witnesses
• Wanted persons
• Missing persons
• Lost relatives

Chinese Records Understanding • Multi-Lingual • Corporate Records Familiarity

UNDERSTANDING CHINESE RECORDS

If your law firm is not checking Chinese language records—for companies or individuals—on a daily basis, then the chances are you are losing time and money. 

FAMILIARITY WITH CHINESE SAIC TERMINOLOGY

Interpreting the minutiae of Chinese State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) records is not easy even with native speaking researchers. If your staff is not up to date in understanding filing irregularities, then you may find it impossible. 

Over the years we have built a concise glossary of the terms and anomalies applied in SAIC records.

LINGUISTIC PROFICIENCY

Furthermore,  if researchers do not understand the nuances of the language or the ways in which names can be translated into English then results may be both weak and inaccurate.

DON’T WASTE TIME

With our skills, we can quickly help your firm to understand, document and chart relationships between Chinese companies and their stakeholders.

Should your law firm require Chinese research assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Heirs Found • Relatives Located • Assets Traced

FINDING A MISSING BENEFICIARY

We have assisted both local and international lawyers and attorneys, as well as British, Australian and Canadian agencies, to locate missing heirs and verify relationships for the purposes of probate research.

ASSET SEARCH

We can also assist in probate-related asset searches.

SOLVING HISTORICAL PROBATE PROBLEMS

Part of dispersing an estate, claimed or unclaimed, involves identifying and locating missing and unknown heirs–and ensuring that we have found the right person.

We know and understand how difficult some of these searches can be, especially when the deceased passed away decades previously.

If you are interested, please see a Case Study about four siblings all of whom we located 40 years after the death of an uncle.

Prompt Service • HK  Macau  China • Hague Convention

SERVES IN HONG KONG, MACAU & CHINA

Process Serving is an integral part of Veriton’s business.  Much of the process serve work is conducted for either local or international lawyers. As such, there is a dedicated website. 

As Hong Kong’s top process serving company, key features of our service are:

• Prompt service
• Very high serve success rate
• Detailed reports
• Bi-lingual servers (English and Cantonese)
• Serves undertaken in Macau and China
• Overseas serves arranged

SURVEILLANCE

In exceptional circumstances, we have deployed a surveillance team. 

One notable example was a serve on a high-profile banker.  Three other international process serve companies had failed to serve the individual in Singapore, Canada and Hong Kong. 

Our remit was to serve in a high-end commercial premises in the heart of Hong Kong’s Central Business District (CBD). To increase chances of success, a surveillance team was essential.  The banker was served inside a lift on the way up to his office.

The serve was videoed by the surveillance team.

SERVICE COST

Most serves can be executed successfully within a short TAT for a reasonable cost.  The more information you can provide at time of enquiry, the better rate we can offer.  

If you need a quote now, please complete our Process Serve Quotation Form.

COMMON PROCESS SERVE FAQs

The most common questions we get from lawyers relate to the Hague Convention and the time taken to execute a Hague Convention service in Japan and China as discussed on our dedicated process serve website. This can be several months to a year or more.

CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEAL STATED CASE SUPPORTING NON USE OF HAGUE CONVENTION

Whyenlee Industries Ltd. v. Superior Court (2019) 33 Cal.App.5th 364, 375 (WHYENLEE)

The WHYENLEE cited case is of interest in respect of serves in Hong Kong, China and Macau.  In short, agents may conduct personal serves in these jurisdictions without going through the Central Authority.

“These documents are served upon you pursuant to Whyenlee Industries Ltd. v. Superior Court (2019) 33 Cal.App.5th 364, 375 which permits service of this complaint upon you by personal service.

In Whyenlee, the court of appeal held: “Accordingly, we hold that plaintiffs were permitted to use an agent to serve Whyenlee personally in Hong Kong without first making a request to Hong Kong’s Central Authority.” Whyenlee Industries Ltd. v. Sup. Ct. (2019) 33 Cal.App.5th 364, 375, reh’g denied (Apr. 19, 2019), review denied (June 19, 2019).”

Quality Reports • Detailed  Research

COMPREHENSIVE, BESPOKE REPORTS

Many lawyers have commended us on the quality of our reports. We have developed an easy-to-read template that is customized for client and project.  They never contain empty tables and sections that certain companies use to “pad out” findings.

Each report has a comprehensive but concise Executive Summary that highlights all major findings and red flags.

All reports contain active links should clients wish to view source. Where research references originate from paid proprietary databases, we include screenshots.

As required, we prepare appendices and embed link analysis charts.  If the project involves a significant number of entities, we also provide a spreadsheet.  Recommendations are given at the end of report findings.

Should your company have a set format, we ask you to provide this before research begins. 

Experienced Interviewers • Multi-Lingual

STATEMENTS AND INTERVIEWS IN HONG KONG, MACAU AND CHINA

On behalf of your law firm, we can assist in taking statements or conducting interviews in Hong Kong, Macau and China depending on location. 

We can also assist in finding the people you want interviewed.

EX-POLICE CID OFFICERS

Our investigators—former Hong Kong Police officers—are well-versed in statement taking as well as interviews.

Statements and interviews are conducted in either English or Chinese (including Mandarin and Cantonese), as appropriate.

Our reports are based on the translations of investigators and researchers.  They are not certified translations. 

99% of our reports satisfy client requirements.  We no longer arrange certified translations.  We have found it is more cost-effective for our clients to work direct with their translator.

Ex-Police/ ICAC • Quality Operatives • 12-hour Shifts

SURVEILLANCE: NECESSITY ONLY

Surveillance anywhere is expensive, especially if it’s in a modern central business district.

Working in conjunction with lawyers (including in-house counsel), we have deployed surveillance for marital infidelity cases, workplace injuries, banking frauds, process serves and long-term static surveillance. 

However, we suggest surveillance:

• Only when necessary
• Only with the full agreement of the client, and
• Only when we believe there is the possibility of a positive result. 

RESEARCH FIRST, SURVEILLANCE MAYBE!

Successful surveillance is a result of thorough preparation conducted by researchers and operatives.

On numerous occasions, clients have come to us seeking surveillance but we have found satisfactory solutions through research and investigations.  This is a win-win situation for Veriton and the client.

As much as we hate to turn away business, we no longer accept surveillance contracts unless we have conducted the necessary background research to the surveillance project. 

Without thorough reconnaissance built in to a case, we do not believe we can provide our clients with “best service”.

EXPECTATIONS

From the outset, we take time to set client expectations.  Surprisingly often, surveillance may disprove what a client believes to be happening.  Even worse, surveillance results may weaken, and not strengthen, a client’s case.

QUALITY OPERATIVES

Our surveillance team (mostly ex-HK Police or Independent Commission Against Corruption “ICAC” surveillance operatives) conducts operations at an efficient and professional level. Each team, with necessary hardware and vehicles, works up to 12 hours per shift.

The surveillance teams are also familiar with legal limitations regarding personal data, the release and use of such data, and the requirements to safeguard it, as prescribed by the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance and other related laws.

FEES

We charge a minimum of four hours each time the team is deployed. This may cover some of the preparatory work.

The full fee is required up front.  

SURVEILLANCE PROS AND CONS

To illustrate the pros and cons of surveillance we prepared a Case Study  illustrating two very different outcomes.