Inspector Clouseau is alive and well – and he appears to be working for Kroll Associates.
The corporate spies, who are supposed to specialize in unearthing – and keeping – company secrets, last week announced the conclusion of a four-month long investigation into the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
While the 47-page report appeared to be run of the mill, “meta data” buried in the electronic document named three Texas-based oil and gas exploration companies – Panther Bayou Energy, Bayou Bend Petroleum and Cymraec Resources, which has recently changed its name to Vermillion – and seven executives related to the companies.
On the subject line of the should-have-been-deleted information are the words “Due Diligence Investigation” – corporate-speak for the type of spying carried out by Kroll and others when a company is considering a takeover or a merger.
Mark Brooker, CEO of Panther Bayou, initially declined to come to the phone to answer questions about the Kroll Report. However, Brooker was reached later when a call was placed to Bayou Bend.
Brooker said he had never heard of Kroll but explained he may have been the subject of any number of due-diligence investigations related to raising private-equity money. As soon as Cymraec Resources was mentioned, however, Brooker said: “I need to talk to my attorney,” and hung up without saying goodbye.
Kroll charges its clients a small fortune, and are supposed to be the best in the business. Like lawyers, doctors and other professionals, confidentiality is sacrosanct.
A Kroll spokesman called the info leak “regrettable” and said its “client confidentiality is of singular importance. We are examining the facts and taking appropriate action.”