Problem
A U.S. company was considering doing business with a Libyan oil company and asked Vcheck to conduct international third-party due diligence on the firm. Vcheck’s client was curious about the oil firm’s stakeholders, experience, and affiliations, given their founders relative lack of experience.
Solution
Using public records research, an important first step in our process, our investigators verified the Subjects’ backgrounds. Investigators determined that two of the stakeholders did not have any contacts or associations with those in the Libyan oil industry. Without any clear red flags indicating fraud or risk, our investigators turned to human source interviews to help them contextualize their odd findings.
Our investigators pinpointed six key contacts in the region: a retired oil and gas executive, an intelligence professional, and an official in the Libyan Ministry of Oil and Gas. The intelligence professional gave investigators critical information about the Subject’s family ties.
Source interviews identified the oil company’s complicated ownership structure. Though the company and stakeholders seemed relatively above water on paper, they determined that the oil company was owned by two well-connected men in Libya, with extensive government contacts and nefarious wealth sources.
Impact
Vcheck’s international due diligence, using open source and human intelligence, helped our client determine the true owner of the oil firm and confirm suspicions about government affiliations.