BRG Launches Global Investigations and Strategic Intelligence Practice

EMERYVILLE, CA--(Marketwired - April 15, 2015) - Leading strategic advisory and expert consulting firm Berkeley Research Group has launched a Global Investigations and Strategic Intelligence practice, tapping Allen D. Applbaum as its global leader. The move is the latest in BRG's considerable growth in key practice areas bringing sophisticated expertise to the challenges faced by its clients, and it significantly expands the firm's presence in New York.

"Allen is among the most respected experts in the field," said BRG Chairman and Principal Executive Officer David J. Teece. "His unparalleled experience is a valuable component in launching the premier practice for investigations and business intelligence. Allen has pioneered the integration of investigative skills with technology and financial expertise to provide clients with comprehensive and effective strategies for their most complex matters."

With more than 25 years of litigation and investigative consulting experience, Applbaum is a leading expert in independent monitorships and receiverships, providing oversight to the government, regulators and the judiciary. He routinely serves as a trusted advisor to corporations, audit committees, special committees of boards of directors, financial institutions and law firms. In connection with his management of high-profile investigations and business intelligence assignments, Applbaum draws on his public- and private-sector experience to provide cutting-edge investigative solutions to clients. In addition to his independent oversight experience, the breadth of Applbaum's investigative expertise spans diverse areas including internal investigations, fraud investigations, investigative due diligence, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and anti-corruption investigations, anti-money laundering investigations, corporate governance and integrity advisory services.

"BRG offers a unique independent platform to conduct multidisciplinary investigations that are bespoke, efficient and productive and deliver significant value to clients," said Applbaum. "The firm has the depth and agility to assemble best-in-class professionals with a wide array of specific skills to tackle multijurisdictional investigations"

Among Applbaum's high-profile monitorships was his selection by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York to serve as the Independent Monitor for the world's largest online gaming site, with more than 50 million registered users, following the government's filing of a civil suit to seize the company's domain names. Subsequently, the company reached a "domain name use agreement" that allowed it to reopen around the world on the condition that the company agree to have the government appoint an independent monitor who would oversee its compliance with the blocking of players from the United States from accessing the site to play for real money. Applbaum put together a multidisciplinary team comprising former prosecutors, investigators, technology experts, financial and enterprise data analytics experts, and forensic accountants to assist him in monitoring the company and evaluating its cooperation and compliance with this agreement with the government. This work helped to pave the way for the parties to negotiate a fair and equitable settlement resolving all civil disputes.

In a noted receivership, Applbaum was appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to be the Receiver of a company whose owner had been arrested for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. He evaluated the financial condition of the business, safeguarded the assets, and put in place a regimen of procedures to pay existing staff and critical suppliers while assessing and documenting losses to victims, which ran into the tens of millions of dollars. Simultaneously, he supervised a parallel investigation of an alleged Ponzi scheme perpetrated by a business owner. Applbaum determined that the business needed to be placed into bankruptcy, hired bankruptcy counsel, and worked with an appointed bankruptcy trustee to insure the orderly distribution of assets to creditors and victims.

Before joining BRG, Applbaum headed the investigations practices at two global consulting firms and served for one of the firms as regional counsel in its headquarters in New York. From 1990 to 1999, he was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where he led sensitive and high-profile law enforcement investigations of international money laundering, securities fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, racketeering, extortion, organized crime, drug trafficking, gambling, identity theft and credit card fraud, immigration fraud and corruption. His investigative work in two separate organized crime prosecutions earned him the Department of Justice Director's Award for Superior Performance and the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service. During his tenure in the Southern District, Applbaum served as deputy chief of the Criminal Division and as chief of the General Crimes Unit. In addition, he was appointed as the Office's International Affairs coordinator in charge of all requests for international legal assistance from foreign governments.

About Berkeley Research Group, LLC

Berkeley Research Group, LLC (www.thinkbrg.com) is a leading global strategic advisory and expert consulting firm that provides independent advice, investigations, data analytics, authoritative studies, expert testimony, and regulatory and dispute consulting to Fortune 500 corporations, financial institutions, government agencies, major law firms and regulatory bodies around the world. BRG experts and consultants combine intellectual rigor with practical, real-world experience and an in-depth understanding of industries and markets. Their expertise spans economics and finance, data analytics and statistics, and public policy in many of the major sectors of our economy, including healthcare, banking, information technology, energy, construction, and real estate. BRG is headquartered in Emeryville, California, with offices across the United States and in Australia, Canada, Latin America and the United Kingdom.