Fraud & Corruption Investigations

I-OnAsia is a Chambers & Partners ranked leading investigator with a team of Certified Fraud Examiners who have supported litigators in hundreds of global fraud investigations.

I-OnAsia is a fraud and corruption investigations specialist. Our team has substantial direct experience handling “big” cases, including the investigation of losses in the hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.

Core services include: Digital Forensics and Electronic Discovery; Documents discovery and preservation; Identification and interview of key witnesses; Independent investigations; Expert analysis of facts; Proper preparation of reports for referral to law enforcement; and, the provision of Expert witness testimony.

A substantial portion of this work takes place in Greater China under the leadership of I-OnAsia’s founder, Mr. Derek Elmer. Recent cases included:

US$200 million fraud perpetrated against a South Korean client by a member of the company’s Hong Kong finance team. The investigation involved successful identification of transfers through Macau casinos, the use of bitcoin ATMs, and other modern fraud mechanisms.
Multi-billion U.S. dollar fraud involving a large Hong Kong listed company.
US$10 million medical and insurance fraud perpetrated by members of a Hong Kong-based workers union against a large utility.

I-OnAsia’s New York office has undertaken complex fraud investigations on behalf of government organizations, multilateral organizations, and private enterprises at the instruction of counsel. The head of I-OnAsia’s New York office, Mr. James Tunkey, is a Certified Fraud Examiner (since 2004).

Examples of past cases include:

US$90 million investment fraud perpetrated against a real estate developer in New Jersey.
US$40 million internal purchasing fraud perpetrated against large US-based insurer at one of the oldest direct investments in China.
US$200 million theft of trade secrets and materials diversion fraud against an energy storage company in Asia.
US$50 million kickback scheme and distributor fraud perpetrated by employees of an American consumer products company in China.
US$80 million bogus investment scheme fraud perpetrated by local business partners of an American investor in Indonesia.

I-OnAsia’s Mr. Tunkey has also undertaken many of the world’s highest profile corruption investigations, beginning in the 1990s with case management of matters in Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, and elsewhere in North Asia. In recognition for his early career anti-corruption work, Mr. Tunkey was accepted to the United Nations-sponsored Corruption Control and Organizational Integrity program at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2004.

More recently, cases overseen by Mr. Tunkey include corruption investigations into the siphoning of funds out of Russia by a government employee, investigation of aspects of a major corruption case in South America, investigation of individuals linked to a South American state-run energy company, and other high profile matters.

Mr. Tunkey is internationally connected: he is a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations, a member of the International Organization of Asian Crime Investigators & Specialists, and a member of other global security organizations.