James has conducted and managed government corruption inquiries, money laundering investigations, fraud investigations, employee wrongdoing investigations, asset searches, social engineering attacks, leak of information inquiries, data protection audits, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations, bank monitorships and social media risk assessments.
James helps drive initiatives that keep Kroll at the forefront of open-source and technology-assisted investigations. In 2019, he presented “Exposing Corruption Through Open-Source Investigations” at the World Bank. Additionally, he co-authored, with Columbia Law School’s Center on Sustainable Investment), a how-to-guide for governments conducting reputational and integrity due diligence on prospective investors.
James is at the forefront of Kroll’s social media risk assessments. Recently, James managed a large social media investigations team working on a three-year engagement providing social media risk assessments to a multinational client. The Kroll team delivered to the client assessments on over 1,000 subjects. Thus, helping the client to avoid considerable reputational risk to its partnerships.
James has worked on and led multiple investigations relating to activist short sellers, including helping to successfully identify anonymous bloggers who conspired with short sellers to manipulate the market.
As a key member of a team which investigated a fraud perpetrated by the Fixed Income Trading team of a Russian bank, revealing that the bank’s risk and compliance systems had been circumvented. James and the team worked with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the City of London Police and a large UK law firm over multiple jurisdictions to eventually take the case to the High Court. The client won their High Court case against the fraudsters, who are now facing criminal sanction. To date, Kroll has helped recover and freeze over $100 million of the fraud funds.
James was also part of the team that investigated serious allegations of corruption made against the former Prime Minister of Kuwait. Kroll’s forensic investigation showed much of the evidence used to substantiate the allegations was falsified. The results of the investigations were published by the client in the Kuwaiti press.
James played a key role in an investigation, conducted on behalf of a European Central Bank, into serious allegations of money laundering and sanction breaches made against a European bank by the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Kroll’s investigations identified serious compliance breaches at the bank and substantiated other allegations made by a whistle-blower. James helped present Kroll’s findings to the Central Bank’s board and governor.
James received a Bachelor of Arts in international history from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
