Case Studies

Israeli billionaire Benny Steinmetz faced a personal UK lawsuit filed by Vale, one of the world’s largest mining companies, to enforce a $2 billion arbitral award against him and his companies. Vale claimed that it had been induced to enter a mining partnership with Steinmetz under false pretences. Knowing that Vale’s claims were unfounded, Steinmetz hired Shadow Trace to prove what he had been unable to prove in the arbitration proceedings.

Over the course of four months, Shadow Trace covertly gathered human intelligence from Vale’s senior executives. The operations revealed that Vale’s management and board were aware of all the risks that the purchase of the mine entailed and the arbitration was Vale’s attempt to recover its financial losses after the mines were nationalized by the Guinean government.  Shadow Trace submitted an affidavit containing the evidence in courts in New York and in London, forcing Vale to withdraw its lawsuit against Steinmetz, and the worldwide freezing order against his assets was lifted.

Oro Negro, a drilling contractor with bonds traded in the US, hired Shadow Trace to investigate corruption allegations against the Mexican state oil company, Pemex. After Oro Negro built five oil rigs on the shores of Mexico, Pemex had forced Shadow Trace’s client into bankruptcy by cancelling contracts worth $1.5 billion.

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Shadow Trace’s investigation uncovered evidence of widespread corruption at Pemex, including bribes accepted by the CEO and board in exchange for contracts. The evidence also revealed how the bribe money was being laundered and that Pemex had cancelled the contracts because Oro Negro refused to pay millions in bribes to high-ranking Pemex officers. The evidence was submitted to the SEC and DOJ, leading to criminal investigations into Pemex, and Shadow Trace’s witness statement was provided to a NAFTA arbitration panel seeking $700 million in compensation for Oro Negro.

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French multinational engineering company Alstom and its Israeli partner Afcon hired Shadow Trace to investigate the loss of a NIS 2.3 billion rail electrification tender in Israel. After Spain’s engineering company SEMI was awarded the tender, Alstom and Afcon filed a lawsuit alleging unlawful score adjustments and non-compliance.

Shadow Trace presented recordings of conversations with SEMI representatives and advisors of the railway bid discussing flaws in the bidding process. Based on these findings, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered that the project would be divided among all three companies as a compromise and gave part of the contract to Alstom and Afcon valued at NIS 580 million.

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Shadow Trace was engaged by an international environmental organisation to investigate allegations of corruption within Iceland’swhaling industry. With Iceland being one of the last three countries where commercial whaling remains legal, concerns over unethical government dealings threatened to undermine conservation efforts. Our covert intelligence operations revealed a sophisticated scheme orchestrated by Kristján Loftsson, a powerful whaling magnate, to secure a five-year whaling license.

Shadow Trace’s operatives, posing as foreign investors, infiltrated key business circles to gather critical intelligence. The investigation produced evidence of Loftsson’s collusion with senior Icelandic government officials, including Jón Gunnarsson, Iceland’s Minister of Fisheries and Wildlife.
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Gunnarsson’s son, Gunnar Bergmann, a former chairman of the Minke Whalers’ Association, revealed details about a backroom deal between his father and Loftsson to bypass public opposition and ensure the continuation of Iceland’s whaling industry. Bergmann further
revealed his family’s deep financial ties to whaling, exposing their vested interest in maintaining the controversial practice.
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The findings by Shadow Trace garnered significant attention in Icelandic media. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Gunnarsson would no longer participate in the process of granting whaling permits.

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Shadow Trace was engaged by Medista, a Belgian pharmaceutical supply chain management firm, to investigate the premature termination of their government contract for Covid-19 medical logistics. Medista, which had previously secured over €50 million in contracts, was blindsided when the BelgianMinistry of Health reissued tenders, awarding them instead to multinational competitor Movianto.

Shadow Trace’s investigation revealed evidence of misconduct and collusion, including undercover footage of a top Movianto executive admitting to our operatives that his personal connection with a senior official from the Belgian Ministry of Health responsible for tenders had secured his company the contract.

The executive later introduced us to the official who, in a separate meeting, admitted to preferential treatment towards Movianto. The official was even recorded revealing her role in advising Movianto’s legal team to navigate the tender process in their favour.

These revelations sparked public outcry. Under mounting scrutiny, Belgium’s Federal Internal Audit Agency launched an internal probe, which after a few months of investigation confirmed that the senior health official had acted in conflict of interest and failed to safeguard Medista’s trade secrets.

Shadow Trace was hired by a Panamanian businessman to investigate systemic corruption within the country’s judiciary. The investigation focused on attorney Janio Lescure and his involvement in suspicious court rulings. Shadow Trace’s intelligence operations uncovered a complex system of corruption involving numerous judges and magistrates, including Judge Oydén Ortega of the Supreme Court. The bribes, amounting to millions of dollars, were transferred to the corrupt justices through intermediaries and offshore accounts, making the transactions difficult to trace.

Shadow Trace was also able to secure audio recordings of Lescure admitting to his close ties with judges, state officials, and mafiosos, as well as his ability to influence court verdicts, dodge investigations into his illegal activities, and evade paying taxes. The evidence was presented at a hearing presided by a Panamanian magistrate, which led to the dismissal of the Judge, and shed light on the scale of corruption within the country’s judiciary system.

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Shadow Trace conducted a three-month investigation to expose fraud and corruption within a series of Italian arbitration cases filed against our client, amounting to a total of €2 billion. These proceedings emerged from a dispute between our client, AmTrust Financial Services, an insurance company listed on Nasdaq, and Antonio Somma, a former business partner.

Shadow Trace’s investigation uncovered pre-existing relationships between individuals involved in the case and revealed that Somma had paid bribes to the lead arbitrator. This evidence was corroborated by the arbitrator who boasted about his ability to guarantee a favourable outcome to a given party. The evidence led to the swift halt of the proceedings and dismissal of the biased arbitrator. The two parties reached a settlement out of court, with Somma agreeing to compensation solely for unpaid previous invoices, instead of the initial arbitration award of €400 million that he had arranged with the corrupt arbitrator.

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Bank Hapoalim, one of Israel’s two largest banks, engaged Shadow Trace to recover assets from the estate of Motti Zisser, a former client of the bank who had declared bankruptcy and owed the bank hundreds of millions of NIS. Shadow Trace provided evidence of Zisser's concealed assets, which included hotels in Brussels, a mall in Amsterdam and a hotel furniture supplier in Hong Kong, all of which had been transferred to his son David through a complex network of shell companies and Swiss trustees. This intelligence prompted an injunction that froze the Zisser family’s companies, and the successful asset recovery efforts contributed to a settlement agreement in which the Zisser family paid the bank NIS 95 million.

Attorney Joseph Benkel, the state-appointed insolvency administrator, hired Shadow Trace to investigate and trace concealed assets of a bankrupt Israeli tycoon, Eliezer Fishman. Fishman, once considered one of Israel’s wealthiest businessmen, was declared bankrupt with a staggering debt of hundreds of millions of euros.

Using our elite team of undercover agents, Shadow Trace secretly recorded several meetings with Fishman’s associates, including his personal trustee, which led us to discover a network of trusts, shell companies, and third parties that were used to conceal assets valued at around €100 million across Europe, particularly real-estate in Germany. A detailed report and witness statement were submitted to the Tel Aviv District Court and to the London High Court, resulting in a resounding victory for our client, which took control of the UK company held by Fishman nominees.

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Isabel dos Santos, previously the richest woman in Africa, accused the Angolan government of pursuing a personal and financial vendetta to defame her and destroy her business empire and take control of her assets. The government froze her local assets over allegations of defrauding the state of $1 billion in diamonds and oil-related transactions. Dos Santos in return sued the government for several billion dollars. These cases were heard in multiple ICC arbitrations and in the High Court of Justice in London.

Shadow Trace’s investigation into Angola’s political and business elite revealed the existence of a government task force aimed at illegally seizing dos Santos’ assets and enriching their personal pockets. The evidence collected by Shadow Trace’s agents, presented in a witness statement to the High Court in London, showed a large-scale negative campaign by various players in Angola, designed to defame dos Santos and confiscate her assets illegally and exposed corruption in the highest echelons in Angola.

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Rami Levy, the founder of Israel’s largest discount supermarket chain, was targeted in a negative media campaign, suspected to have been orchestrated by a competitor. Levy sought assistance from Shadow Trace to verify his suspicions.

Shadow Trace investigated Levy’s rivals and managed to gain evidence from the spokesperson of Victory, a rival chain, admitting that they had orchestrated the negative campaign involving various media and on-the-ground efforts designed to damage Levy’s reputation and public image. With this evidence, Levy was able to take legal action against his competitor, defend his business and stop the negative publications against his supermarket chain.

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