Corporate investigations for the protection of businesses

Collection of information and evidence to protect company assets and interests.

CORPORATE
INVESTIGATIONS

PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR FOR COMPANIES

INDUSTRIAL LAW

CORPORATE LAW

LABOR LAW


AIRO provides companies with its investigative services in the corporate field, aimed at protecting assets and resources, as well as searching for evidence to support in court.

CORPORATE LOYALTY

Competing Companies (art. 2598 c.c.)

Commercial loyalty and unfair competition

Industrial espionage

Improper use of trademarks and patents

Counterfeiting of products

Employee turnover

Discredit

Employees - Members - Administrators

Disclosure of confidential information

Breach of non-compete agreement

Diversion of clientele

Breach of the duty of loyalty

Improper use of Law 104/92 permits

Fake illness/injury

Unjustified absenteeism

PRE-EMPLOYMENT INVESTIGATIONS

CORPORATE DUE DILIGENCE

COMPUTER INVESTIGATIONS

RECLAMATIONS

Environmental

Vehicles

Telephone

Electronics

Computer science

Protection of corporate assets

We operate to protect the company, defending the infrastructure, human resources, information, computer networks, and the company's assets in their entirety.

Investigations within this scope of services may concern, for example:

• customer churn;
• thefts, embezzlements, shortages;
• frauds against the company;
• unlawful/disloyal behavior of employees/executives/partners;
• damages;
• Unauthorized access to computer networks.

Investigations into unfair competition

We investigate and gather evidence to be used in court, within the scope of behaviors sanctioned by Article 2598 of the Civil Code.

Investigations within this scope of services may concern, for example:

• diversion of customers;
• employee turnover;
• the spread of false and misleading news with the aim of discrediting the credibility and image of the client company;
• the violation of the rules governing advertising activities;
• the boycott by suppliers and competitors;
• industrial espionage against the client company.

Investigations on absenteeism and Law 104 permits

We investigate and gather evidence to be used in court against employees who frequently take unjustified absences.

Investigations within this scope of services may concern, for example:

• excessive use of sick/injury leave;
• the use of permits used to work at competing companies;
• dismissal for just cause.

Breach of the non-compete agreement

The non-compete agreement is a contractual clause (an integral part of the employment contract) that establishes the employee's commitment not to engage in work relationships for a given period with directly competing companies after the end of the contractual relationship.

It is common, however, for the aforementioned agreement to be disregarded and for the employee to immediately enter into new employment relationships, sometimes disguised as independent professional activities, with competing companies.

This type of attitude is often the consequence of an action perpetrated by a competing company that, during the ongoing relationship with the client company, approaches the employee and convinces them to engage in the aforementioned illicit behavior, which may also involve the poaching of clients or the acquisition of technical knowledge/know-how gained by the employee through their work at the client company.

We investigate and gather evidence to be used in court to undertake compensation actions against the former employee and the competing company.

Protection of trademarks, patents, and confidential information

The Patent is a certificate granted by the Italian Patent and Trademark Office UIBM established at the Chambers of Commerce, which guarantees the priority and exclusive right of industrial exploitation of an invention, or the use of a trademark or a model; it can be national, community, or international.

The ownership of the patent thus confers certain important rights and the duty for third parties to refrain from replicating what is described by the patent.

We are well aware of how common it is, for reasons of obvious financial opportunity, for some business entities to prefer to "copy" almost entirely a product/idea/brand owned by others rather than invest in research and development.

We investigate and gather irrefutable evidence to be used in court to undertake compensatory actions, censorship, seizure, inhibition, against the party that has violated the registered trademark or patent.

Abuse of permits under Law 104/92

Law 104 of February 5, 1992, establishes in Article 33 the possibility for an employee to take leave from work by using special permits in case they are affected by severe disabilities or need to assist relatives with disabilities.

The employee in the aforementioned situation is entitled to 3 working days per month, which can also be used in hourly increments.

The investigative experience has highlighted that sometimes the employee abuses these special permits, using them for reasons not related to those allowed: for personal leisure or even to work for other companies.

Fake illness or fake injury

This is behavior that can legitimately lead the company to the rightful dismissal of the employee.

It occurs when he is absent from work and

• during this period, he/she performs other work activities;
• engages in activities not compatible with the state for which they have taken leave from work;
• engages in activities that compromise normal healing.

The investigative activity allows, on one hand, to ascertain circumstances that a simple medical examination does not allow and, on the other hand, to gather evidence that may justify dismissal for just cause.

Industrial counterespionage

We take action at the request of the client company to determine if it is the target of illicit activities by third parties aimed at capturing industrial secrets.

Investigations within this scope of services may concern, for example:

• unauthorized access to the computer system;
• the unfaithful behavior of an employee/executive who transfers confidential information to a competing company;
• identifying a company's vulnerabilities through penetration testing;
• the strengthening of corporate security through cybersecurity activities, access control, video surveillance, alarm systems, adoption of specialized guarding;
• Preparation of company policies to prevent unlawful employee behavior;
• Internal audit actions for identifying potential internal system issues.

The conduct of investigative activity follows specific action protocols, including in the forensic field, aimed at collecting evidence to be used in court.

Environmental remediation, vehicles, telecommunication, electronic, IT

It involves the research and identification of equipment designed to record/transmit audio/video captured within company spaces or vehicles.

The activity includes:

• the analysis of hardware and software systems;
• the analysis of telephone devices;
• the search inside vehicles or boats;
• the analysis of each current derivation;
• the analysis and cataloging of objects that have an autonomous power supply;
• the scanning of the frequency spectrum with fixed devices;
• scanning frequencies with mobile devices;
• the observation of the environment, the walls, the furnishings with the use of thermosensitive equipment;
• the observation of channels or unreachable points through probe microcameras;
• the video recording and photographic cataloging of every operational moment;
• the restoration to the original state of the place of interest and its contents.

The activity involves the use of various types of equipment and the deployment of different operational units with photo/video documentation of the operational activities.

Pre-employment investigations

Human resources represent the true determinant for every company between success/development or failure/decline.

Carefully evaluating the abilities declared by the candidate or perceived by the examiner during selection interviews may not be sufficient.

It is equally important

• verify the truthfulness of the candidate's statements;
• verify previous employments;
• verify the educational qualification;
• check for any prejudicial actions/protests;
• verify any financial issues that may expose the employee to vulnerabilities/weaknesses in relation to industrial espionage activities;
• conduct a field information investigation, gather reputational information, rumors related to legal or behavioral issues of the subject.

Preventive investigations

It is a type of investigation that the company can resort to, aimed at the preventive collection of evidence to be used in a possible future trial, in which it will have the role of plaintiff or defendant.

It is a very important defensive tool whose objective is to protect business interests with a precautionary investigative activity.

Digital forensics

The activity of Digital Forensics (computer forensics), developed by our computer engineers, consists of the investigation and analysis of computer devices, aimed at identifying individuals who have committed crimes against the client and collecting evidence to be used both in court and in the context of defensive investigations.

The cataloging, collection, and custody of evidence is carried out following the strictest forensic IT protocols, including the creation of clone/forensic copies to be delivered to the Prosecutor's Office and the opposing parties, to allow for the same analyses in an adversarial process.

Investigations within this scope of services may concern, for example:

• the violation of corporate computer networks (external or internal attack);
• the theft or misappropriation of computer material through copying onto external media;
• the unauthorized printing of confidential information from company devices;
• illegal access to pedo/pornographic sites from company PCs/smartphones;
• the commission of cybercrimes using company hardware;
• Persecutory activities experienced by private citizens through social networks or telephone devices;
• the forensic extraction of data of interest from computers or smartphones, within the scope of civil or criminal judicial proceedings, on behalf of the legitimate owners or the Public Prosecutor's Office;
• the identification of individuals who have social profiles so-called fake with which they have committed illegal activities against private citizens (defamation, stalking, insults, plagiarism, fraud);
• identity theft
• the collection of digital evidence in the context of defensive investigations.

Pre-credit commercial information or for credit recovery

In-depth economic and financial screening of individuals and legal entities in Italy and abroad, essential for deciding whether to extend trust to a new client, supplier, partner, or for the recovery of outstanding credit.