John Burgar is a Divisional Director with Haymarket and is primarily responsible for Haymarket’s Investigative Due Diligence, Asset Recovery and Research services.
John has 20 years investigation experience in the public and private sectors. His early investigative career was served with South Yorkshire Police where he was involved in the setting up of specialist crime intelligence units, working with a number of criminal investigation departments, drug squads and Regional Crime Squads.
Having left the Police in 1989 he pursued interests in the private sector, including experience with the financial services arm of Lloyds Bank in London. Then, in 1996, John combined his investigation and commercial experience by joining a London-based international investigations and risk management consultancy where he successfully undertook a wide array of assignments in the UK, Europe, the USA and the Caribbean.
Some of John’s career achievements include:
• Leading a team of investigators, forensic accountants and computer forensic experts to gather evidence of a complex £25 million fraud perpetrated by senior executives of a European Data Management business against its shareholders. Months of skilful reconstruction of recovered deleted data culminated in John’s team obtaining evidence of multiple frauds and false accounting and led to the recovery of millions of pounds of misappropriated shareholder assets that had been secreted offshore.
• Seconded to a FTSE 100 company to oversee the successful investigation of a press smear campaign based on unauthorised leaks of confidential information from the company. Working with internal and external investigators as well as IT personnel, he identified moles within the company who had compromised the IT systems and passed confidential information to overseas third parties. The information was then being used to conduct an extensive smear campaign in the press and financial bulletin boards on the Internet with the intention of discrediting the company’s CEO and capitalising on the company’s falling share price.
• Working for a foreign government, he led a team of investigators who were tasked to investigate allegations of bribery and corruption against government ministers by an American oil company during a contract dispute with the government. The oil company was seeking US$100 million compensation from the government in connection with its failed bid for an oil exploration contract and alleged that it lost the bid because it had refused to pay bribes. Working with the government’s legal team, all aspects of the bidding process were investigated and, at a subsequent international tribunal, the company withdrew its allegations and the claim was dismissed.
John has studied accountancy and is an associate member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He also has a thorough understanding of computers, computer forensics and matters relating to information security and data interrogation.
