Practice 01
Due Diligence
Before you invest, lend, appoint or partner: know who is behind the company, the counterparty or the candidate, and what they have not told you.
Forensic advisers to boards, lenders and investors
When trust and capital are at stake, facts matter.
We find out who you are really dealing with, investigate fraud and misconduct, and build the evidence that holds up when it is challenged, in India and overseas.
- Fraud & misconduct investigations for corporates in India and overseas
- 1,250+Fraud & misconduct investigations for corporates in India and overseas
- Due diligence and integrity assignments in India and overseas
- 500+Due diligence and integrity assignments in India and overseas
- Siphoned funds identified and assets traced across our cases
- ₹2,000 Cr+Siphoned funds identified and assets traced across our cases
- Years investigating sophisticated corporate misconduct
- 19+Years investigating sophisticated corporate misconduct
Where to start
Start with what has happened. We will take it from there.
Most clients come to us with a problem, not a service name. Choose the situation closest to yours.
Whistleblowing
Received a whistleblower complaint?
Investigate independently, protect the whistleblower and give your board a defensible answer.
Fraud
Suspect fraud or embezzlement?
Establish what happened, who was involved and how much was lost, with evidence that stands up.
Procurement
Suspect vendor kickbacks?
Find collusion, kickbacks and fictitious vendors in your supply chain.
Due diligence
Vetting a partner or acquisition?
Know who you are dealing with before you sign, invest or onboard.
Asset recovery
Assets hidden or diverted?
Find value that has been concealed or moved, and support its recovery.
Digital evidence
Data leaked or evidence at risk?
Preserve and analyse electronic evidence so it holds up.
Services
Three focus areas, one professional standard.
Due diligence before a decision, investigations when something goes wrong, and evidence when it has to be proven. Forensic accountants, digital specialists and investigators on one team.
Practice 02
Investigations
When fraud or misconduct is suspected: establish what happened, who was involved and how much was lost, with evidence that stands up.
Practice 03
Disputes
When the facts must hold up against the other side: evidence, quantum and asset tracing for litigation, arbitration, deals and insolvency.
How we work
How an investigation runs
Every engagement answers the same five questions, to an evidentiary standard. This is how a case comes together.
It rarely starts with a confession.
It starts with an anonymous email, a payment that will not reconcile, a supplier who seems a little too keen. The first task is to understand what is really alleged, and to secure the evidence before it can disappear.
What we look at
- Whistleblower complaints
- Audit observations
- Unusual patterns in data
- Regulator and lender notices
Who works on itSenior investigators and forensic accountants
43%
Figures: ACFE, Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations (1,921 cases across 138 countries).
Our approach
Fraud follows people, not industries.
Fraud is a human act. In a cement plant, a bank branch or a software company it is driven by the same motives (pressure, opportunity and the story people tell themselves), and it runs on a finite set of schemes. There are only so many ways to inflate a purchase, favour a related vendor, divert a loan or hide a kickback.
The evidence of those schemes always sits somewhere in the records, the data and the people. Our speciality is knowing what to look for and finding it, in any industry.
- 01We know the playbook before we start
- 02Sector experience tells us where to look; behaviour tells us what to find
- 03The same rigour across 11 sectors and 60 industries
- 04Interviews built on how people conceal, rationalise and collude
- Pressure
- A debt, a missed target, a lifestyle to keep up.
- Opportunity
- A control nobody checks, an approval nobody questions.
- Rationalisation
- “I’ll pay it back.” “Everyone does it.” “They owe me.”
Every fraud needs all three.
One scheme, four industries
Cement plant
Coal bought at a premium from a “preferred” supplier
Bank branch
Branch fit-out bills priced well above market
Software company
Licences bought through a reseller at inflated rates
Hospital
Consumables billed at rates no other hospital pays
Same motive, same scheme, different paperwork. Knowing the scheme is what lets us find it anywhere.
AI integrity intelligenceA Spectra group platformGive your people a safe way to speak up.
If fraud follows people, so does the earliest warning. EthicalView is an AI-based integrity intelligence platform that provides listening as a service. It gives employees, vendors and dealers a trusted, independent channel to raise a concern, and brings forward the issues that matter most. It covers everything from everyday grievances to gross integrity failures, so the board sees the full picture.
- 01
Policies people trust
Whistleblower and vigil-mechanism policy, code of conduct and the protocols behind them, designed with you.
- 02
Listening as a service
Anonymous reporting by web, mobile, phone hotline and email, always open, with two-way confidential follow-up.
- 03
AI that brings forward what matters
Every concern is classified and prioritised by AI, then handled independently by EthicalView with a full audit trail. When a matter needs investigating, Spectra Forensics takes it from there.
- 04
Integrity intelligence for the board
Regular reporting to the audit committee, independent directors and the board on the concerns they already worry about and the ones they should. Over time, this raises governance standards and stakeholder confidence.
- Employees with access to a multilingual speak-up channel
- 250,000+
- Employees with access to a multilingual speak-up channel
- Vendors, contractors, consultants and third-party staff with a multilingual speak-up channel
- 50,000+
- Vendors, contractors, consultants and third-party staff with a multilingual speak-up channel
- Dealers, agencies, branches and partners who can report through their principal’s Ethics Helpline
- 20,000+
- Dealers, agencies, branches and partners who can report through their principal’s Ethics Helpline
- Countries where people can raise concerns about their employer or principal through the Ethics Helpline
- 20+
- Countries where people can raise concerns about their employer or principal through the Ethics Helpline
Why Spectra Forensics
Why clients choose us
We scope each investigation to the case and run it to governing standards, using our own investigation methodology.
Confidentiality
We protect sensitive information from the first call to the final report, and handle every investigation securely.
Understanding
We take time to understand your business, the people involved and what is really at stake in each matter.
Expertise
Forensic accountants, digital specialists and investigators work as one multidisciplinary team.
Outcomes
Prompt, well-planned action and findings you can act on, to stop losses, preserve evidence and resolve the matter.
Case studies
Recent case studies
Anonymised to protect our clients, and quantified to show the impact.
Case file 01Investigations
~₹5 Crundue benefit quantified
The CEO's Three Vendors
A subsidiary CEO routed a rural retail rollout through vendors fronted by his own associates. The money trail led back to him.
- Procurement reconstruction
- Corporate and statutory records
- Ground intelligence
- Funds-flow tracing
Agri, food & rural retail · Western India
Case file 02Disputes
US$4.7M+diversion traced to the founder
Zero Skin in the Game
An investor funded a road-construction contractor. Within months, the founder's own contribution had quietly gone to zero and the diversion had begun.
- Records digitisation
- Funds-flow reconstruction
- Personal wealth analysis
- Corporate and property records
Infrastructure & EPC · Western India
Case file 03Disputes
~1Memails and documents reviewed
The Fortune That Wasn't There
Shareholders suspected their managing director of hiding a fortune. On the data available, the money trail did not support that suspicion, and it surfaced employee frauds instead.
- Digital forensics
- Source and application of funds
- Related-party mapping
- Market intelligence
Manufacturing & engineering · Western India, with overseas operations
Client names and identifying details are withheld to protect confidentiality. Specific references and client experiences can be shared on request, with the client’s consent.
Who we help
Who we work for
Boards and management, lenders, legal counsel, regulators and investigating agencies, insolvency professionals and investors.
Boards, audit committees & management
Independent answers for boards and management
Independent investigations of fraud, misconduct and whistleblower complaints, reported to the board and defensible before regulators and courts.
Banks, NBFCs & financial institutions
Forensic audits for lenders and financial institutions
Forensic audits of borrower accounts, fund-diversion reviews, and internal and customer fraud investigations for lenders, insurers and fintechs.
Legal counsel & law firms
Forensic evidence for counsel and their clients
Forensic accounting, eDiscovery, loss quantification and expert evidence for in-house legal teams, law firms and their clients.
Regulators & investigating agencies
Specialist support for regulators and investigating agencies
Forensic accounting, digital forensics and expert analysis for regulatory bodies, investigating agencies and the financial institutions that work with them.
Insolvency professionals & creditors
Transaction audits for resolution professionals and creditors
Transaction audits, PUFE reviews and asset tracing for resolution professionals, liquidators and committees of creditors under the IBC.
Investors, funds & deal advisors
Know who you are investing in, before and after you invest
Promoter and management intelligence, integrity due diligence and post-investment monitoring for private equity, hedge funds, family offices, pre-IPO investors and the M&A and lending advisors who serve them.
Client voices
What clients say
How our work has helped clients deal with serious matters, accurately and in confidence.
“The team's meticulous eDiscovery efforts enabled us to build a strong case for our client. Their responsiveness and thoroughness were exceptional.”
“Their in-depth investigation into a whistleblower complaint showcased a high level of due diligence. The final report was precise, credible, and invaluable to our Ethics Committee.”
“Their investigation of the money laundering case was exceptional. From asset tracing to background checks, they provided clarity and actionable insights.”
Client names are withheld to protect confidentiality.
Fraud Intelligence Desk
This week in fraud and misconduct
Material developments from regulators and reputable press in India and worldwide, filtered for quality and summarised neutrally.
01:26 amOfficialIndia
Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department intensifies investigations into 2.5 million dollar cyber fraud
News On AIRCorporate fraudCyber-enabled fraud & scams
12:27 pmOfficialIndia
ED Searches 13 Locations in NRI Housing Loan Fraud Case
News On AIRCorporate fraudBanking & financial fraud
Insights
Latest articles
Practical analysis of fraud schemes, investigations and India’s regulatory landscape.
Governance & controls11 Oct 2026
How to Build a Fraud Risk Management Framework: A Board-Level Guide
A board-level guide to fraud risk management: the COSO/ACFE five principles, roles of the board, audit committee and CFO, and Indian legal hooks.
Regulation
The DPDP Act 2023 and DPDP Rules 2025: What Changes for Workplace Investigations
Anti-bribery & corruption
FCPA and UK Bribery Act: When Foreign Anti-Bribery Laws Reach Indian Companies
Anti-bribery & corruption
Building an Anti-Bribery Programme in India: The 2018 PCA Amendments and Corporate Liability
Cyber fraud
Account Takeover and SIM-Swap Fraud: Detection and Response for Indian Businesses
FAQ
Common questions
Short answers to the questions clients ask most often about fraud and our work.
01What is fraud?
Fraud is the deliberate act of deception, misrepresentation, or concealment to gain unfair or unlawful advantage, often causing financial harm or misleading stakeholders. It can take forms like falsifying financial records, embezzling funds, or engaging in corrupt practices.
02Why does fraud occur?
Fraud occurs when individuals exploit weaknesses in systems or trust for personal or financial gain. The Fraud Triangle explains it as a combination of:
- Pressure: stress that motivates unethical actions.
- Opportunity: gaps in controls that allow wrongdoing.
- Rationalisation: self-justification for unethical behaviour.
03Why use a specialist forensic firm for our issue?
Dealing with fraud takes more than information. You need a partner who acts quickly and protects both your interests and your reputation. We bring years of hands-on experience, a method focused on results and complete discretion, so your business can move forward with confidence after the investigation.
04Do you work outside India?
Yes. We have investigated matters across more than ten countries, including multi-geography fraud structures and money-laundering networks.