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NEWS RELEASE: JOHN MINTZ, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER AT THE WASHINGTON POST, TO JOIN PRIVATE INVESTIGATIVE FIRM

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 26, 2005

The James Mintz Group, a leading investigative services firm, today announced that John Mintz, a senior investigative reporter at The Washington Post, will join the Mintz Group in August as a senior investigator.

Founded in 1994 by James Mintz, John Mintz's younger brother, the Mintz Group investigates on behalf of corporate officers, investment bankers, and their legal and financial advisors. John Mintz will be based in the firm's Washington office, where he will report to James H. Rowe, Executive Vice President and Managing Partner of that office.

"John Mintz's two decades of experience as an investigative reporter at one of the world's great newspapers are ideal preparation for the work we do for our clients before deals, during litigation and after frauds," said Mr. Rowe. "Moreover, the Mintz Group is doing more and more public record analysis in high-stakes public policy debates, and this work is right up John's alley as well. We are delighted to welcome John to the Mintz Group team."

"The work of an investigative reporter and that of a private investigator in the business world are very similar," John Mintz said. "In both cases, you have to win people's trust so they'll talk to you, and dig out facts from a variety of sources. It also helps if you can then express yourself clearly, so readers and, now, clients can understand the significance of what you've unearthed."

Mr. Mintz, 52, joined the Post in January 1983 as a police reporter, and later covered District of Columbia government, served as the Post's Arlington, Va., bureau chief, and investigated Lyndon LaRouche, local savings & loan disasters and the wave of U.S. espionage cases in the mid-1980s, as well as covering real-estate development. In 1989, he became an assistant city editor, where he oversaw coverage of the District's police, crime and the courts. He also helped edit coverage of the investigation and trial of Washington Mayor Marion Barry.

In January 1992, Mr. Mintz joined the Post's business news department, where he covered telecommunications as well as the presidential candidacy that year of Ross Perot. After the election, he started covering the defense industry. In 1997, he became a projects reporter for the national staff, covering issues of money in politics and lobbying. After 9-11-01, he started covering terrorism and homeland security, and continued to do so until July 2005.

Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Bethesda, Md., John Mintz received both a bachelor of arts and a master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Chevy Chase, Md., with his wife and daughter.

The James Mintz Group, Inc. has offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, London, San Francisco and Miami.

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Investigating The Executives

FORBES
April 21, 2005
Penelope Patsuris

NEW YORK - The search for new CEOs will never be the same. Everything from Dennis Kozlowski to Sarbanes-Oxley has seen to that.

The biggest winners in this brave new and very litigious world: private investigation outfits. "There's a big trend in doing due diligence on high-level executive job candidates," says James Rowe, vice president of the investigative firm the James Mintz Group. A lifetime ago, Rowe was an investigator for the U.S. Senate Watergate Committee. "And we're also vetting lots of potential board members. This has really boosted our business; it's a real growth area."

Rowe says his firm's bread-and-butter used to be deal-related due diligence work, checking out executives ahead of mergers, acquisitions and partnerships. "Now we do as much work on CEOs and board members as we do on deals." These background checks can cost anywhere from $2,000 to as much as $20,000, depending on how extensive they are.

The clients that come to James Mintz are generally the executive search firms such as Spencer Stuart and Heidrick & Struggles. "They talk to colleagues about the person's capabilities," says Rowe, "while we look for a criminal past or financial troubles like bankruptcies or tax liens."

Spencer Stuart partner John Wood says his company now uses outside investigative firms to vet all of its senior-level hires. "That didn't used to be the case," he adds.

And you'd be amazed at what firms such as James Mintz and Kroll sometimes turn up. "We find that in 10% to 15% of C-suite searches we see red flags, like fake degrees and criminal filings," says Peter Turecek, a managing director at Kroll's business intelligence and investigations practice. "We came across one guy once with a child-rape conviction, and an executive at an acquisition target company who turned out to have been a bagman in a murder. We also discovered a CFO that stole his neighbor's sod because he couldn't wait to finish his lawn. What's he doing if he can't meet his quarterly numbers?"

Thanks to Sarbanes-Oxley, investigators are also now on the hunt for matters that sound more mundane but are just as critical in picking a new executive. "Now a major focus for us is corporate stewardship," says Rowe. "Were there any securities issues during this person's tenure that would raise issues about their judgment? We look for filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, OSHA, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Trade Commission, depending on the person. Companies want a much more comprehensive look."

What's more surprising than the skeletons that these investigations turn up is that they've stayed hidden in the first place. That's why the folks at Verified Person, a startup co-founded by former Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) and Pepsi (nyse: PEP - news - people ) CEO John Scully, conduct continual screenings of existing employees every few weeks. The New York-based outfit also checks out C-level candidates as well.

"If it's your first offense you generally don't go to jail," says Verified Person CEO Tal Moise. "Only 5% of felons get prison time. Most just get probation or community service. People use vacation or sick days to go to court."

And he says there is no law that says employers must be notified when a staffer runs afoul of the law. "Employers assume that they'd be aware of something like that," says Moise. "But for every 1,000 employees we check, we find one or two felonies or major misdemeanors--like assault and battery or drug possession--in that population."

To be sure, such transgressions are far less common among the executive ranks. "By and large these people are so busy doing their jobs that they don't have much time to get into trouble," says Spencer Stuart's John Wood. But for those who do, it's now a lot harder to keep their misdeeds under wraps.

Labels: background checks, Dennis Kozlowski, Mintz Group

Ex-CT governor Rowland sentenced to one year in prison for corruption

Friday, March 18, 2005

Former Connecticut governor John G. Rowland was sentenced Friday to one year in prison, four months of house arrest, three years probation, and an $82,000 fine after pleading guilty in December to a federal corruption charge. The sentencing period, set by the judge who heard Rowland's leniency plea, fell short of 15 to 21 months called for by the plea bargain. Prosecution ensued after investigators discovered that Rowland sold his political influence for over $100,000 in trips to Nevada, Florida, and Vermont. Rowland also accepted improvements of his lakeside cottage by state contractors.

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